Ideas of Lucretius, by Theme

[Roman, 100 - 55 BCE, Born in Rome. Roman poet, about whom little is known. Probably a slave. Died in Rome.]

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3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 1. Truth
5728 The concept of truth was originated by the senses
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 4. Pro-Empiricism
5702 The senses are much the best way to distinguish true from false
5729 If the senses are deceptive, reason, which rests on them, is even worse
13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / c. Empirical foundations
5697 The only possible standard for settling doubts is the foundation of the senses
13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 3. Illusion Scepticism
5727 Most supposed delusions of the senses are really misinterpretations by the mind
14. Science / C. Induction / 1. Induction
5714 Even simple facts are hard to believe at first hearing
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / d. Location of mind
5718 The mind is in the middle of the breast, because there we experience fear and joy
5717 The mind is a part of a man, just like a hand or an eye
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 5. Unity of Mind
21387 The separate elements and capacities of a mind cannot be distinguished
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 2. Sources of Free Will
5709 The actions of the mind are not determinate and passive, because atoms can swerve
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 2. Interactionism
5695 Only bodies can touch one another
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 3. Panpsychism
5711 The earth is and always has been an insentient being
5712 Particles may have sensation, but eggs turning into chicks suggests otherwise
17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 1. Physical Mind
5719 The mind moves limbs, wakes the body up, changes facial expressions, which involve touch
5724 Lions, foxes and deer have distinct characters because their minds share in their bodies
17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 2. Reduction of Mind
5713 You needn't be made of laughing particles to laugh, so why not sensation from senseless seeds?
21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 5. Objectivism in Art
6611 One man's meat is another man's poison
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature
5730 Our bodies weren't created to be used; on the contrary, their creation makes a use possible
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / e. Death
5726 The dead are no different from those who were never born
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / e. Role of pleasure
5705 Nature only wants two things: freedom from pain, and pleasure
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 1. Nature
5716 Nature runs the universe by herself without the aid of gods
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 5. Infinite in Nature
5704 There can be no centre in infinity
5703 The universe must be limitless, since there could be nothing outside to limit it
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / g. Atomism
5693 Everything is created and fed by nature from atoms, and they return to atoms in death
5701 If an object is infinitely subdivisible, it will be the same as the whole universe
5708 In downward motion, atoms occasionally swerve slightly for no reason
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 7. Strictness of Laws
17004 Nothing can break the binding laws of eternity
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement
5696 If there were no space there could be no movement, or even creation
5706 Atoms move themselves
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 2. Thermodynamics / d. Entropy
5700 It is quicker to break things up than to assemble them
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / a. Experience of time
5698 We can only sense time by means of movement, or its absence
27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 1. Cosmology
5715 This earth is very unlikely to be the only one created
27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 2. Eternal Universe
5694 Nothing can be created by divine power out of nothing
28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / a. Cosmological Proof
5699 If matter wasn't everlasting, everything would have disappeared by now
28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / c. Teleological Proof critique
5707 The universe can't have been created by gods, because it is too imperfect
28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 3. Deism
5710 Gods are tranquil and aloof, and have no need of or interest in us
28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 5. Atheism
5731 Why does Jupiter never hurl lightning from a blue sky?
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / a. Immortality
5720 Spirit is mortal
5722 For a separated spirit to remain sentient it would need sense organs attached to it
5725 An immortal mind couldn't work harmoniously with a mortal body
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / b. Soul
5721 The mind is very small smooth particles, which evaporate at death
5723 If spirit is immortal and enters us at birth, why don't we remember a previous existence?