76 ideas
22659 | It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it [James] |
22657 | All good philosophers start from a dumb conviction about which truths can be revealed [James] |
22647 | A complete system is just a classification of the whole world's ingredients [James] |
22648 | A single explanation must have a single point of view [James] |
22642 | Man has an intense natural interest in the consistency of his own thinking [James] |
22644 | Our greatest pleasure is the economy of reducing chaotic facts to one single fact [James] |
6710 | You can only define a statement that something is 'true' by referring to its functional possibilities [James] |
18986 | Truth is just a name for verification-processes [James] |
10354 | Correspondence could be with other beliefs, rather than external facts [Kusch] |
18983 | In many cases there is no obvious way in which ideas can agree with their object [James] |
18972 | Ideas are true in so far as they co-ordinate our experiences [James] |
18973 | New opinions count as 'true' if they are assimilated to an individual's current beliefs [James] |
22305 | If the hypothesis of God is widely successful, it is true [James] |
18984 | True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and verify (and false otherwise) [James] |
10353 | Tarskians distinguish truth from falsehood by relations between members of sets [Kusch] |
22641 | Realities just are, and beliefs are true of them [James] |
22649 | Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James] |
18987 | A 'thing' is simply carved out of reality for human purposes [James] |
18981 | 'Substance' is just a word for groupings and structures in experience [James] |
10337 | We can have knowledge without belief, if others credit us with knowledge [Kusch] |
18974 | Truth is a species of good, being whatever proves itself good in the way of belief [James] |
10357 | Methodological Solipsism assumes all ideas could be derived from one mind [Kusch] |
18989 | Pragmatism accepts any hypothesis which has useful consequences [James] |
10339 | Foundations seem utterly private, even from oneself at a later time [Kusch] |
10331 | Testimony is reliable if it coheres with evidence for a belief, and with other beliefs [Kusch] |
10338 | The coherentist restricts the space of reasons to the realm of beliefs [Kusch] |
22640 | We find satisfaction in consistency of all of our beliefs, perceptions and mental connections [James] |
10340 | Individualistic coherentism lacks access to all of my beliefs, or critical judgement of my assessment [Kusch] |
10345 | Individual coherentism cannot generate the necessary normativity [Kusch] |
10350 | Cultures decide causal routes, and they can be critically assessed [Kusch] |
10343 | Process reliabilism has been called 'virtue epistemology', resting on perception, memory, reason [Kusch] |
10341 | Justification depends on the audience and one's social role [Kusch] |
10325 | Vindicating testimony is an expression of individualism [Kusch] |
10324 | Testimony does not just transmit knowledge between individuals - it actually generates knowledge [Kusch] |
10327 | Some want to reduce testimony to foundations of perceptions, memories and inferences [Kusch] |
10329 | Testimony won't reduce to perception, if perception depends on social concepts and categories [Kusch] |
10330 | A foundation is what is intelligible, hence from a rational source, and tending towards truth [Kusch] |
10334 | Testimony is an area in which epistemology meets ethics [Kusch] |
10336 | Powerless people are assumed to be unreliable, even about their own lives [Kusch] |
10323 | Communitarian Epistemology says 'knowledge' is a social status granted to groups of people [Kusch] |
10348 | Private justification is justification to imagined other people [Kusch] |
10335 | Myths about lonely genius are based on epistemological individualism [Kusch] |
2975 | That honey is sweet I do not affirm, but I agree that it appears so [Timon] |
22655 | Scientific genius extracts more than other people from the same evidence [James] |
22658 | Experimenters assume the theory is true, and stick to it as long as result don't disappoint [James] |
18971 | Theories are practical tools for progress, not answers to enigmas [James] |
18982 | Pragmatism says all theories are instrumental - that is, mental modes of adaptation to reality [James] |
18985 | True thoughts are just valuable instruments of action [James] |
22654 | We can't know if the laws of nature are stable, but we must postulate it or assume it [James] |
22656 | Trying to assess probabilities by mere calculation is absurd and impossible [James] |
22646 | We have a passion for knowing the parts of something, rather than the whole [James] |
22652 | The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James] |
22651 | Dogs' curiosity only concerns what will happen next [James] |
9286 | Consciousness is not a stuff, but is explained by the relations between experiences [James] |
10349 | To be considered 'an individual' is performed by a society [Kusch] |
9285 | 'Consciousness' is a nonentity, a mere echo of the disappearing 'soul' [James] |
23981 | Rage is inconceivable without bodily responses; so there are no disembodied emotions [James] |
22650 | How can the ground of rationality be itself rational? [James] |
22643 | It seems that we feel rational when we detect no irrationality [James] |
10344 | Our experience may be conceptual, but surely not the world itself? [Kusch] |
18975 | We return to experience with concepts, where they show us differences [James] |
10358 | Often socialising people is the only way to persuade them [Kusch] |
22660 | Evolution suggests prevailing or survival as a new criterion of right and wrong [James] |
6570 | Imagine millions made happy on condition that one person suffers endless lonely torture [James] |
10333 | Communitarianism in epistemology sees the community as the primary knower [Kusch] |
10351 | Natural kinds are social institutions [Kusch] |
22645 | Understanding by means of causes is useless if they are not reduced to a minimum number [James] |
18980 | If there is a 'greatest knower', it doesn't follow that they know absolutely everything [James] |
18978 | It is hard to grasp a cosmic mind which produces such a mixture of goods and evils [James] |
10332 | Omniscience is incoherent, since knowledge is a social concept [Kusch] |
18991 | If the God hypothesis works well, then it is true [James] |
18977 | The wonderful design of a woodpecker looks diabolical to its victims [James] |
18979 | Things with parts always have some structure, so they always appear to be designed [James] |
18976 | Private experience is the main evidence for God [James] |
22653 | Early Christianity says God recognises the neglected weak and tender impulses [James] |
18990 | Nirvana means safety from sense experience, and hindus and buddhists are just afraid of life [James] |