449 ideas
5540 | Cleverness is shown in knowing what can reasonably be asked [Kant] |
7504 | Modern science comes from Descartes' view that knowledge doesn't need moral purity [Descartes, by Foucault] |
2845 | Free and great-souled men do not keep asking "what is the use of it?" [Aristotle] |
5631 | Reason is only interested in knowledge, actions and hopes [Kant] |
5635 | In ordinary life the highest philosophy is no better than common understanding [Kant] |
21954 | Metaphysics is a systematic account of everything that can be known a priori [Kant] |
7918 | Kant turned metaphysics into epistemology, ignoring Aristotle's 'being qua being' [Kant, by Macdonald,C] |
21438 | Metaphysics might do better to match objects to our cognition (and not start with the objects) [Kant] |
16611 | You just can't stop metaphysical speculation, in any mature mind [Kant] |
5586 | The voyage of reason may go only as far as the coastline of experience reaches [Kant] |
21462 | It is still possible to largely accept Kant as a whole (where others must be dismantled) [Kant, by Gardner] |
5600 | Human reason considers all knowledge as belonging to a possible system [Kant] |
21457 | Reason has two separate objects, morality and freedom, and nature, which ultimately unite [Kant] |
9752 | Kant showed that theoretical reason cannot give answers to speculative metaphysics [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
6584 | A priori metaphysics is fond of basic unchanging entities like God, the soul, Forms, atoms… [Kant, by Fogelin] |
9349 | A dove cutting through the air, might think it could fly better in airless space (which Plato attempted) [Kant] |
12767 | Kant exposed the illusions of reason in the Transcendental Dialectic [Kant, by Fraassen] |
22521 | Our method of inquiry is to examine the smallest parts that make up the whole [Aristotle] |
18259 | Analysis is becoming self-conscious about our concepts [Kant] |
9350 | Our reason mostly analyses concepts we already have of objects [Kant] |
5530 | Analysis of our concepts is merely a preparation for proper a priori metaphysics [Kant] |
5622 | The boundaries of reason can only be determined a priori [Kant] |
5604 | In reason things can only begin if they are voluntary [Kant] |
5623 | If I know the earth is a sphere, and I am on it, I can work out its area from a small part [Kant] |
1569 | Descartes impoverished the classical idea of logos, and it no longer covered human experience [Roochnik on Descartes] |
1570 | Human beings, alone of the animals, have logos [Aristotle] |
5578 | Pure reason deals with concepts in the understanding, not with objects [Kant] |
5628 | Reason hates to be limited in its speculations [Kant] |
5603 | Pure reason exists outside of time [Kant] |
5616 | Pure reason is only concerned with itself because it deals with understandings, not objects [Kant] |
21439 | Religion and legislation can only be respected if they accept free and public examination [Kant] |
5584 | All objections are dogmatic (against propositions), or critical (against proofs), or sceptical [Kant] |
1574 | Reasoning distinguishes what is beneficial, and hence what is right [Aristotle] |
2248 | Reason says don't assent to uncertain principles, just as much as totally false ones [Descartes] |
18236 | Reason keeps asking why until explanation is complete [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
2801 | Intelligence which looks ahead is a natural master, while bodily strength is a natural slave [Aristotle] |
2857 | Since Plato all philosophers have followed the herd, except Descartes, stuck in superficial reason [Nietzsche on Descartes] |
5563 | The principle of sufficient reason is the ground of possible experience in time [Kant] |
5565 | Proof of the principle of sufficient reason cannot be found [Kant] |
5602 | The free dialectic opposition of arguments is an invaluable part of the sceptical method [Kant] |
5618 | Definitions exhibit the exhaustive concept of a thing within its boundaries [Kant] |
5619 | No a priori concept can be defined [Kant] |
22274 | 'Transcendent' is beyond experience, and 'transcendental' is concealed within experience [Kant, by Potter] |
5577 | Transcendental ideas require unity of the subject, conditions of appearance, and objects of thought [Kant] |
23696 | Transcendental cognition is that a priori thought which shows how the a priori is applicable or possible [Kant] |
5555 | Philosophical examples rarely fit rules properly, and lead to inflexibility [Kant] |
22529 | Men are natural leaders (apart from the unnatural ones) [Aristotle] |
3641 | It is circular to make truth depend on believing God's existence is true [Arnauld on Descartes] |
4524 | Descartes is right that in the Christian view only God can guarantee the reliability of senses [Nietzsche on Descartes] |
2290 | Once it is clear that there is a God who is no deceiver, I conclude that clear and distinct perceptions must be true [Descartes] |
22571 | 'If each is small, so too are all' is in one way false, for the whole composed of all is not small [Aristotle] |
2266 | My general rule is that everything that I perceive clearly and distinctly is true [Descartes] |
4301 | Someone may think a thing is 'clear and distinct', but be wrong [Leibniz on Descartes] |
5539 | We must presuppose that truth is agreement of cognition with its objects [Kant] |
5620 | Philosophy has no axioms, as it is just rational cognition of concepts [Kant] |
18794 | Logic has precise boundaries, and is the formal rules for all thinking [Kant] |
10054 | Arithmetic and geometry achieve some certainty without worrying about existence [Descartes] |
5542 | There must be a general content-free account of truth in the rules of logic [Kant] |
21454 | The battle of the antinomies is usually won by the attacker, and lost by any defender [Kant] |
2252 | Surely maths is true even if I am dreaming? [Descartes] |
2430 | I can learn the concepts of duration and number just from observing my own thoughts [Descartes] |
8739 | Geometry studies the Euclidean space that dictates how we perceive things [Kant, by Shapiro] |
8740 | Geometry would just be an idle game without its connection to our intuition [Kant] |
16899 | Geometrical truth comes from a general schema abstracted from a particular object [Kant, by Burge] |
9632 | Kant only accepts potential infinity, not actual infinity [Kant, by Brown,JR] |
3343 | Euclid's could be the only viable geometry, if rejection of the parallel line postulate doesn't lead to a contradiction [Benardete,JA on Kant] |
8737 | Kant suggested that arithmetic has no axioms [Kant, by Shapiro] |
5557 | Axioms ought to be synthetic a priori propositions [Kant] |
12421 | Kant's intuitions struggle to judge relevance, impossibility and exactness [Kitcher on Kant] |
17617 | Maths is a priori, but without its relation to empirical objects it is meaningless [Kant] |
12458 | Kant taught that mathematics is independent of logic, and cannot be grounded in it [Kant, by Hilbert] |
2795 | If 7+5=12 is analytic, then an infinity of other ways to reach 12 have to be analytic [Kant, by Dancy,J] |
4475 | Saying a thing 'is' adds nothing to it - otherwise if my concept exists, it isn't the same as my concept [Kant] |
7416 | Kant is read as the phenomena being 'contrained' by the noumenon, or 'free-floating' [Talbot on Kant] |
19386 | Without the subject or the senses, space and time vanish, as their appearances disappear [Kant] |
21445 | Even the most perfect intuition gets no closer to things in themselves [Kant] |
21448 | Categories are general concepts of objects, which determine the way in which they are experienced [Kant] |
5554 | Categories are necessary, so can't be implanted in us to agree with natural laws [Kant] |
6160 | Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them? [Rowlands on Kant] |
17772 | Kant claims causal powers are relational rather than intrinsic [Kant, by Bayne] |
5533 | Objects in themselves are not known to us at all [Kant] |
21449 | The a priori concept of objects in general is the ground of experience [Kant] |
2297 | If I can separate two things in my understanding, then God can separate them in reality [Descartes] |
5550 | A substance could exist as a subject, but not as a mere predicate [Kant] |
21451 | All appearances need substance, as that which persists through change [Kant] |
5564 | Substance must exist, as the persisting substratum of the process of change [Kant] |
3628 | Substance cannot be conceived or explained to others [Gassendi on Descartes] |
16631 | If we remove surface qualities from wax, we have an extended, flexible, changeable thing [Descartes] |
22525 | The whole is prior to its parts, because parts are defined by their role [Aristotle] |
17865 | Descartes gives an essence by an encapsulating formula [Descartes, by Almog] |
5626 | An a priori principle of persistence anticipates all experience [Kant] |
7576 | The Identity of Indiscernibles is true of concepts with identical properties, but not of particulars [Kant, by Jolley] |
14509 | If we ignore differences between water drops, we still distinguish them by their location [Kant] |
18797 | Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition [Kant] |
5594 | Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances [Kant] |
18795 | A concept is logically possible if non-contradictory (but may not be actually possible) [Kant] |
5566 | Is the possible greater than the actual, and the actual greater than the necessary? [Kant] |
5613 | The analytic mark of possibility is that it does not generate a contradiction [Kant] |
18796 | Formal experience conditions show what is possible, and general conditions what is necessary [Kant] |
2301 | We know by thought that what is done cannot be undone [Descartes] |
23461 | Kant thought worldly necessities are revealed by what maths needs to make sense [Kant, by Morris,M] |
14710 | Necessity is always knowable a priori, and what is known a priori is always necessary [Kant, by Schroeter] |
16256 | For Kant metaphysics must be necessary, so a priori, so can't be justified by experience [Kant, by Maudlin] |
5524 | Maths must be a priori because it is necessary, and that cannot be derived from experience [Kant] |
3642 | Pythagoras' Theorem doesn't cease to be part of the essence of triangles just because we doubt it [Arnauld on Descartes] |
20944 | Knowledge is threefold: apprehension, reproduction by imagination, recognition by concepts [Kant, by Bowie] |
5617 | Knowledge begins with intuitions, moves to concepts, and ends with ideas [Kant] |
22587 | Understanding is the aim of our nature [Aristotle] |
15627 | Kant showed that the understanding (unlike reason) concerns what is finite and conditioned [Kant, by Hegel] |
16898 | Understanding essentially involves singular elements [Kant, by Burge] |
5573 | Reason is distinct from understanding, and is the faculty of rules or principles [Kant] |
5634 | Opinion is subjectively and objectively insufficient; belief is subjective but not objective; knowledge is both [Kant] |
20190 | Belief is not an intellectual state or act, because propositions are affirmed or denied by the will [Descartes, by Zagzebski] |
1585 | Descartes tried to model reason on maths instead of 'logos' [Roochnik on Descartes] |
1582 | Labelling slightly doubtful things as false is irrational [Roochnik on Descartes] |
2256 | Maybe there is only one certain fact, which is that nothing is certain [Descartes] |
6914 | Descartes transformed 'God is thinkable, so he exists' into 'I think, so I exist' [Descartes, by Feuerbach] |
4641 | In the Meditations version of the Cogito he says "I am; I exist", which avoids presenting it as an argument [Descartes, by Baggini /Fosl] |
2260 | If I don't think, there is no reason to think that I exist [Descartes] |
6929 | Modern philosophy set the self-conscious ego in place of God [Descartes, by Feuerbach] |
3849 | "I think therefore I am" is the absolute truth of consciousness [Sartre on Descartes] |
2258 | I must even exist if I am being deceived by something [Descartes] |
2259 | "I am, I exist" is necessarily true every time I utter it or conceive it in my mind [Descartes] |
3160 | The Cogito is a transcendental argument, not a piece of a priori knowledge [Rey on Descartes] |
1117 | The Cogito proves subjective experience is basic, but makes false claims about the Self [Russell on Descartes] |
2873 | Maybe 'I' am not the thinker, but something produced by thought [Nietzsche on Descartes] |
3623 | The Cogito only works if you already understand what thought and existence are [Mersenne on Descartes] |
1369 | It is a precondition of the use of the word 'I' that I exist [Ayer on Descartes] |
5360 | The thing which experiences may be momentary, and change with the next experience [Russell on Descartes] |
2870 | 'I think' assumes I exist, that thinking is known and caused, and that I am doing it [Nietzsche on Descartes] |
5188 | A thought doesn't imply other thoughts, or enough thoughts to make up a self [Ayer on Descartes] |
3624 | That I perform an activity (thinking) doesn't prove what type of thing I am [Hobbes on Descartes] |
3120 | Autistic children seem to use the 'I' concept without seeing themselves as thinkers [Segal on Descartes] |
4526 | The Cogito assumes a priori the existence of substance, when actually it is a grammatical custom [Nietzsche on Descartes] |
5579 | How can we infer that all thinking involves self-consciousness, just from my own case? [Kant on Descartes] |
5580 | My self is not an inference from 'I think', but a presupposition of it [Kant on Descartes] |
5587 | We cannot give any information a priori about the nature of the 'thing that thinks' [Kant on Descartes] |
5588 | The fact that I am a subject is not enough evidence to show that I am a substantial object [Kant on Descartes] |
13923 | Descartes' claim to know his existence before his essence is misleading or absurd [Descartes, by Lowe] |
6930 | Modern self-consciousness is a doubtful abstraction; only senses and feelings are certain [Feuerbach on Descartes] |
5590 | 'I think therefore I am' is an identity, not an inference (as there is no major premise) [Kant] |
5601 | There are possible inhabitants of the moon, but they are just possible experiences [Kant] |
2261 | My perceiving of things may be false, but my seeming to perceive them cannot be false [Descartes] |
22003 | We have no sensual experience of time and space, so they must be 'ideal' [Kant, by Pinkard] |
21456 | Objects having to be experiencable is not the same as full idealism [Gardner on Kant] |
21446 | If we disappeared, then all relations of objects, and time and space themselves, disappear too [Kant] |
6909 | In Kantian idealism, objects fit understanding, not vice versa [Kant, by Feuerbach] |
6910 | Kant's idealism is a limited idealism based on the viewpoint of empiricism [Kant, by Feuerbach] |
21440 | For Kant experience is either structured like reality, or generates reality's structure [Kant, by Gardner] |
22006 | The concepts that make judgeable experiences possible are created spontaneously [Kant, by Pinkard] |
21442 | 'Transcendental' cognition concerns what can be known a priori of its mode [Kant] |
5568 | We cannot know things in themselves, but are confined to appearances [Kant] |
5581 | We have proved that bodies are appearances of the outer senses, not things in themselves [Kant] |
21956 | Everything we intuit is merely a representation, with no external existence (Transcendental Idealism) [Kant] |
2257 | I myself could be the author of all these self-delusions [Descartes] |
9156 | Kant's shift of view enables us to see a priority in terms of mental capacity, not truth and propositions [Burge on Kant] |
7575 | A priori knowledge is limited to objects of possible experience [Kant, by Jolley] |
12414 | A priori knowledge occurs absolutely independently of all experience [Kant] |
9351 | One sort of a priori knowledge just analyses given concepts, but another ventures further [Kant] |
9348 | Experienceless bodies have space; propertyless bodies have substance; this must be seen a priori [Kant] |
2279 | A triangle has a separate non-invented nature, shown by my ability to prove facts about it [Descartes] |
5404 | Two plus two objects make four objects even if experience is impossible, so Kant is wrong [Russell on Kant] |
9345 | Propositions involving necessity are a priori, and pure a priori if they only derive from other necessities [Kant] |
16893 | The apriori is independent of its sources, and marked by necessity and generality [Kant, by Burge] |
9347 | A priori knowledge is indispensable for the possibility and certainty of experience [Kant] |
3342 | Seeing that only one parallel can be drawn to a line through a given point is clearly synthetic a priori [Kant, by Benardete,JA] |
20943 | Kant bases the synthetic a priori on the categories of oneness and manyness [Kant, by Bowie] |
5402 | Kant showed that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely analytic [Kant, by Russell] |
5203 | We can think of 7 and 5 without 12, but it is still a contradiction to deny 7+5=12 [Ayer on Kant] |
5527 | That a straight line is the shortest is synthetic, as straight does not imply any quantity [Kant] |
5528 | That force and counter-force are equal is necessary, and a priori synthetic [Kant] |
5529 | The real problem of pure reason is: how are a priori synthetic judgments possible? [Kant] |
5537 | That two lines cannot enclose a space is an intuitive a priori synthetic proposition [Kant] |
5546 | Are a priori concepts necessary as a precondition for something to be an object? [Kant] |
5558 | 7+5=12 is not analytic, because 12 is not contained in 7 or 5 or their combination [Kant] |
5624 | We possess synthetic a priori knowledge in our principles which anticipate experience [Kant] |
5571 | Reason contains within itself certain underived concepts and principles [Kant] |
5403 | If, as Kant says, arithmetic and logic are contributed by us, they could change if we did [Russell on Kant] |
5525 | No analysis of the sum of seven and five will in itself reveal twelve [Kant] |
18262 | For Kant analytic knowledge needs complex concepts, but the a priori can rest on the simple [Coffa on Kant] |
5526 | With large numbers it is obvious that we could never find the sum by analysing the concepts [Kant] |
5567 | A priori the understanding can only anticipate possible experiences [Kant] |
18264 | We know the shape of a cone from its concept, but we don't know its colour [Kant] |
6490 | For Descartes, objects have one primary quality, which is geometrical [Descartes, by Robinson,H] |
5532 | Colours and tastes are not qualities of things, but alterations of the subject [Kant] |
2774 | Kant says the cognitive and sensory elements in experience can't be separated [Kant, by Dancy,J] |
2295 | Why does pain make us sad? [Descartes] |
23454 | Appearances have a 'form', which indicates a relational order [Kant] |
3627 | Dogs can make the same judgements as us about variable things [Gassendi on Descartes] |
2265 | We perceive objects by intellect, not by senses or imagination [Descartes] |
5569 | We cannot represent objects unless we combine concepts with intuitions [Kant] |
2263 | The wax is not perceived by the senses, but by the mind alone [Descartes] |
2264 | We don't 'see' men in heavy clothes, we judge them to be men [Descartes] |
23697 | I exist just as an intelligence aware of its faculty for combination [Kant] |
22005 | Associations and causes cannot explain content, which needs norms of judgement [Kant, by Pinkard] |
6577 | For Kant, our conceptual scheme is disastrous when it reaches beyond experience [Kant, by Fogelin] |
5538 | Understanding has no intuitions, and senses no thought, so knowledge needs their unity [Kant] |
5559 | Sensations are a posteriori, but that they come in degrees is known a priori [Kant] |
8736 | Kantian intuitions are of particulars, and they give immediate knowledge [Kant, by Shapiro] |
2247 | To achieve good science we must rebuild from the foundations [Descartes] |
2255 | Only one certainty is needed for progress (like a lever's fulcrum) [Descartes] |
5541 | A sufficient but general sign of truth cannot possibly be provided [Kant] |
7070 | Kant says knowledge is when our representations sufficiently conform to our concepts [Kant, by Critchley] |
4708 | Kant thought he had refuted scepticism, but his critics say he is a sceptic, for rejecting reality [O'Grady on Kant] |
2251 | Even if my body and objects are imaginary, there may be simpler things which are true [Descartes] |
6347 | Descartes can't begin again, because sceptics doubt cognitive processes as well as beliefs [Pollock/Cruz on Descartes] |
2296 | If pain is felt in a lost limb, I cannot be certain that a felt pain exists in my real limbs [Descartes] |
3620 | We correct sense errors with other senses, not intellect [Mersenne on Descartes] |
3619 | The senses can only report, so perception errors are in the judgment [Gassendi on Descartes] |
2249 | It is prudent never to trust your senses if they have deceived you even once [Descartes] |
2253 | God may have created nothing, but made his creation appear to me as it does now [Descartes] |
2254 | To achieve full scepticism, I imagine a devil who deceives me about the external world and my own body and senses [Descartes] |
2305 | Waking actions are joined by memory to all our other actions, unlike actions of which we dream [Descartes] |
2294 | I can only sense an object if it is present, and can't fail to sense it when it is [Descartes] |
5592 | Scepticism is the euthanasia of pure reason [Kant] |
5595 | Scepticism is absurd in maths, where there are no hidden false assertions [Kant] |
6578 | For Kant, experience is relative to a scheme, but there are no further possible schemes [Kant, by Fogelin] |
5629 | If a proposition implies any false consequences, then it is false [Kant] |
22522 | To grasp something, trace it back to its natural origins [Aristotle] |
22524 | The nature of each thing is its mature state [Aristotle] |
4862 | Can the pineal gland be moved more slowly or quickly by the mind than by animal spirits? [Spinoza on Descartes] |
5606 | Freedom and natural necessity do not contradict, as they relate to different conditions [Kant] |
3850 | We discovers others as well as ourselves in the Cogito [Sartre on Descartes] |
2302 | Faculties of the mind aren't parts, as one mind uses them [Descartes] |
4086 | Kant thought that consciousness depends on self-consciousness ('apperception') [Kant, by Crane] |
3151 | Descartes put thought at the centre of the mind problem, but we put sensation [Rey on Descartes] |
2869 | Kant's only answer as to how synthetic a priori judgements are possible was that we have a 'faculty'! [Nietzsche on Kant] |
5572 | Reason has logical and transcendental faculties [Kant] |
21800 | Descartes mentions many cognitive faculties, but reduces them to will and intellect [Descartes, by Schmid] |
9346 | Judgements which are essentially and strictly universal reveal our faculty of a priori cognition [Kant] |
1399 | Imagination and sensation are non-essential to mind [Descartes] |
22443 | We are seldom aware of imagination, but we would have no cognition at all without it [Kant] |
1400 | Some cause must unite the separate temporal sections of a person [Descartes] |
5627 | I can express the motion of my body in a single point, but that doesn't mean it is a simple substance [Kant] |
22528 | The nature of all animate things is to have one part which rules it [Aristotle] |
9751 | To some extent we must view ourselves as noumena [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
21450 | Representation would be impossible without the 'I think' that accompanies it [Kant] |
5583 | We need an account of the self based on rational principles, to avoid materialism [Kant] |
5570 | Self-knowledge can only be inner sensation, and thus appearance [Kant] |
5551 | I have no cognition of myself as I am, but only as I appear to myself [Kant] |
21452 | I can only determine my existence in time via external things [Kant] |
5582 | As balls communicate motion, so substances could communicate consciousness, but not retain identity [Kant] |
2965 | For Kant the self is a purely formal idea, not a substance [Kant, by Lockwood] |
1401 | Since I only observe myself to be thinking, I conclude that that is my essence [Descartes] |
2299 | I can exist without imagination and sensing, but they can't exist without me [Descartes] |
6907 | For Descartes a person's essence is the mind because objects are perceived by mind, not senses [Descartes, by Feuerbach] |
5549 | Mental representations would not be mine if they did not belong to a unified self-consciousness [Kant] |
2283 | Our 'will' just consists of the feeling that when we are motivated to do something, there are no external pressures [Descartes] |
5596 | We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself [Kant] |
9756 | We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
5597 | If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing [Kant] |
2282 | My capacity to make choices with my free will extends as far as any faculty ever could [Descartes] |
2276 | The mind is a non-extended thing which thinks [Descartes] |
2298 | Mind is not extended, unlike the body [Descartes] |
3423 | Descartes is a substance AND property dualist [Descartes, by Kim] |
2303 | The mind is utterly indivisible [Descartes] |
5585 | Soul and body connect physically, or by harmony, or by assistance [Kant] |
6153 | Interaction between mental and physical seems to violate the principle of conservation of energy [Rowlands on Descartes] |
3625 | The 'thinking thing' may be the physical basis of the mind [Hobbes on Descartes] |
2552 | Knowing different aspects of brain/mind doesn't make them different [Rorty on Descartes] |
4305 | Descartes gives no clear criterion for individuating mental substances [Cottingham on Descartes] |
4861 | Does Descartes have a clear conception of how mind unites with body? [Spinoza on Descartes] |
6540 | Even Descartes may concede that mental supervenes on neuroanatomical [Lycan on Descartes] |
7733 | Superman's strength is indubitable, Clark Kent's is doubtful, so they are not the same? [Maslin on Descartes] |
5630 | Our concept of an incorporeal nature is merely negative [Kant] |
5589 | Neither materialism nor spiritualism can reveal the separate existence of the soul [Kant] |
5556 | A pure concept of the understanding can never become an image [Kant] |
5686 | In some thoughts I grasp a subject, but also I will or fear or affirm or deny it [Descartes] |
8687 | Kantian 'intuition' is the bridge between pure reason and its application to sense experiences [Kant, by Friend] |
4017 | Descartes created the modern view of rationality, as an internal feature instead of an external vision [Descartes, by Taylor,C] |
2284 | I make errors because my will extends beyond my understanding [Descartes] |
21759 | Kant deduced the categories from our judgements, and then as preconditions of experience [Kant, by Houlgate] |
19655 | Kant says we can describe the categories of thought, but Hegel claims to deduce them [Kant, by Meillassoux] |
5552 | Categories are concepts that prescribe laws a priori to appearances [Kant] |
5544 | Four groups of categories of concept: Quantity, Quality, Relation and Modality [Kant] |
5547 | The categories are objectively valid, because they make experience possible [Kant] |
5685 | True ideas are images, such as of a man, a chimera, or God [Descartes] |
3629 | All ideas are adventitious, and come from the senses [Gassendi on Descartes] |
17616 | Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind [Kant] |
5553 | Either experience creates concepts, or concepts make experience possible [Kant] |
5593 | Reason generates no concepts, but frees them from their link to experience in the understanding [Kant] |
22004 | Concepts are rules for combining representations [Kant, by Pinkard] |
5543 | All human cognition is through concepts [Kant] |
2273 | The ideas of God and of my self are innate in me [Descartes] |
2285 | I can think of innumerable shapes I have never experienced [Descartes] |
2286 | The idea of a supremely perfect being is within me, like the basic concepts of mathematics [Descartes] |
8735 | Kant implies that concepts have analysable parts [Kant, by Shapiro] |
8734 | Non-subject/predicate tautologies won't fit Kant's definition of analyticity [Shapiro on Kant] |
7314 | How can bachelor 'contain' unmarried man? Are all analytic truths in subject-predicate form? [Miller,A on Kant] |
20291 | If the predicate is contained in the subject of a judgement, it is analytic; otherwise synthetic [Kant] |
20292 | Analytic judgements clarify, by analysing the subject into its component predicates [Kant] |
22570 | Rhetoric now enables good speakers to become popular leaders [Aristotle] |
22574 | A community can lack self-control [Aristotle] |
2837 | Nothing contrary to nature is beautiful [Aristotle] |
2824 | The collective judgement of many people on art is better than that of an individual [Aristotle] |
2846 | Music can mould the character to be virtuous (just as gymnastics trains the body) [Aristotle] |
5599 | Without God, creation and free will, morality would be empty [Kant] |
2807 | Some say slavery is unnatural and created by convention, and is therefore forced, and unjust [Aristotle] |
5576 | We cannot derive moral laws from experience, as it is the mother of illusion [Kant] |
21455 | We only understand what exists, and can find no sign of what ought to be in nature [Kant] |
22582 | Spirit [thumos] is the capacity by which we love [Aristotle] |
2810 | Selfishness is wrong not because it is self-love, but because it is excessive [Aristotle] |
22555 | The function of good men is to confer benefits [Aristotle] |
22557 | Virtuous people are like the citizens of the best city [Aristotle] |
2841 | People become good because of nature, habit and reason [Aristotle] |
2829 | The law is the mean [Aristotle] |
22590 | Virtue is concerned with correct feelings [Aristotle] |
2813 | It is quite possible to live a moderate life and yet be miserable [Aristotle] |
22553 | Justice is a virtue of communities [Aristotle] |
22561 | The rich are seen as noble, because they don't need to commit crimes [Aristotle] |
2808 | Master and slave can have friendship through common interests [Aristotle] |
5605 | Moral blame is based on reason, since a reason is a cause which should have been followed [Kant] |
5632 | Moral laws are commands, which must involve promises and threats, which only God could provide [Kant] |
6916 | For Kant, essence is mental and a mere idea, and existence is the senses and mere appearance [Kant, by Feuerbach] |
2803 | Man is by nature a political animal [Aristotle] |
2820 | People want to live together, even when they don't want mutual help [Aristotle] |
22586 | Only humans have reason [Aristotle] |
22523 | The community (of villages) becomes a city when it is totally self-sufficient [Aristotle] |
2805 | A community must share a common view of good and justice [Aristotle] |
22526 | People who are anti-social or wholly self-sufficient are no part of a city [Aristotle] |
22535 | Friendship is the best good for cities, because it reduces factions [Aristotle] |
22532 | A city can't become entirely one, because its very nature is to be a multitude [Aristotle] |
22584 | A community should all share to some extent in something like land or food [Aristotle] |
22581 | The size of a city is decided by the maximum self-sufficient community that can be surveyed [Aristotle] |
22548 | A city aims at living well [Aristotle] |
22577 | What is the best life for everyone, and is that a communal or an individual problem? [Aristotle] |
22579 | The same four cardinal virtues which apply to individuals also apply to a city [Aristotle] |
2431 | Every state is an association formed for some good purpose [Aristotle] |
22578 | The happiest city is the one that acts most nobly [Aristotle] |
2832 | The state aims to consist as far as possible of those who are like and equal [Aristotle] |
2821 | The six constitutions are monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and polity/democracy [Aristotle] |
22546 | A city is a community of free people, and the constitution should aim at the common advantage [Aristotle] |
2835 | Any constitution can be made to last for a day or two [Aristotle] |
22580 | The best constitution enables everyone to live the best life [Aristotle] |
22558 | Constitutions specify distribution of offices, the authorities, and the community's aim [Aristotle] |
22566 | The greed of the rich is more destructive than the greed of the people [Aristotle] |
2973 | We must decide the most desirable human life before designing a constitution [Aristotle] |
22563 | The middle classes are neither ambitious nor anarchic, which is good [Aristotle] |
2818 | The virtues of a good citizen are relative to a particular constitution [Aristotle] |
22545 | A person can be an excellent citizen without being an excellent man [Aristotle] |
22544 | A citizen is someone who is allowed to hold official posts in a city [Aristotle] |
22541 | Kings should be selected according to character [Aristotle] |
2819 | The only virtue special to a ruler is practical wisdom [Aristotle] |
22542 | People who buy public office will probably expect to profit from it [Aristotle] |
22552 | The rich can claim to rule, because of land ownership, and being more trustworthy [Aristotle] |
22583 | The guardians should not be harsh to strangers, as no one should behave like that [Aristotle] |
22543 | In large communities it is better if more people participate in the offices [Aristotle] |
22539 | Election of officials by the elected is dangerous, because factions can control it [Aristotle] |
22572 | Officers should like the constitution, be capable, and have appropriate virtues and justice [Aristotle] |
2826 | Like water, large numbers of people are harder to corrupt than a few [Aristotle] |
22567 | Democracy arises when people who are given equal freedom assume unconditional equality [Aristotle] |
22560 | Popular leaders only arise in democracies that are not in accord with the law [Aristotle] |
22562 | Choosing officials by lot is democratic [Aristotle] |
2823 | The many may add up to something good, even if they are inferior as individuals [Aristotle] |
22533 | If the people are equal in nature, then they should all share in ruling [Aristotle] |
2817 | It is wrong that a worthy officer of state should seek the office [Aristotle] |
22576 | No office is permanent in a democracy [Aristotle] |
22549 | In many cases, the claim that the majority is superior would apply equally to wild beasts [Aristotle] |
22575 | Ultimate democracy is tyranny [Aristotle] |
5575 | An obvious idea is a constitution based on maximum mutual freedom for citizens [Kant] |
22531 | We aim to understand the best possible community for free people [Aristotle] |
22564 | Community is based on friends, who are equal and similar, and share things [Aristotle] |
22585 | Look at all of the citizens before judging a city to be happy [Aristotle] |
22565 | The best communities rely on a large and strong middle class [Aristotle] |
22589 | Citizens do not just own themselves, but are also parts of the city [Aristotle] |
22534 | People care less about what is communal, and more about what is their own [Aristotle] |
22538 | Owning and sharing property communally increases disagreements [Aristotle] |
22536 | There could be private land and public crops, or public land and private crops, or both public [Aristotle] |
22530 | Both women and children should be educated, as this contributes to a city's excellence [Aristotle] |
21358 | Natural slaves are those naturally belonging to another, or who can manage no more than labouring [Aristotle] |
20092 | One principle of liberty is to take turns ruling and being ruled [Aristotle] |
5621 | The existence of reason depends on the freedom of citizens to agree, doubt and veto ideas [Kant] |
2833 | Equality is obviously there to help people who do not get priority in the constitution [Aristotle] |
2834 | It is always the weak who want justice and equality, not the strong [Aristotle] |
2830 | We can claim an equal right to aristocratic virtue, as well as to wealth or freedom [Aristotle] |
22569 | The Heraeans replaced election with lot, to thwart campaigning [Aristotle] |
22550 | It is dreadful to neither give a share nor receive a share [Aristotle] |
22568 | Faction is for inferiors to be equal, and equals to become superior [Aristotle] |
2814 | Phaleas proposed equality of property, provided there is equality of education [Aristotle] |
22540 | Wealth could be quickly leveled by only the rich giving marriage dowries [Aristotle] |
2828 | Law is intelligence without appetite [Aristotle] |
22537 | Property should be owned privately, but used communally [Aristotle] |
22573 | The virtue of justice may be relative to a particular constitution [Aristotle] |
22527 | Justice is the order in a political community [Aristotle] |
22547 | Justice is equality for equals, and inequality for unequals [Aristotle] |
2825 | The good is obviously justice, which benefits the whole community, and involves equality in some sense [Aristotle] |
2816 | If it is easy to change the laws, that makes them weaker [Aristotle] |
2806 | Man is the worst of all animals when divorced from law and justice [Aristotle] |
22556 | Laws that match people's habits are more effective than mere written rules [Aristotle] |
2827 | It is preferable that law should rule rather than any single citizen [Aristotle] |
22551 | Correct law should be in control, with rulers only deciding uncertain issues [Aristotle] |
22554 | It is said that we should not stick strictly to written law, as it is too vague [Aristotle] |
2840 | The whole state should pay for the worship of the gods [Aristotle] |
2811 | A state is plural, and needs education to make it a community [Aristotle] |
22588 | A city has a single end, so education must focus on that, and be communal, not private [Aristotle] |
2847 | The aim of serious childhood play is the amusement of the complete adult [Aristotle] |
2842 | Men learn partly by habit, and partly by listening [Aristotle] |
2844 | Abortions should be procured before the embryo has acquired life and sensation [Aristotle] |
22052 | Kant's nature is just a system of necessary laws [Bowie on Kant] |
8256 | Kant identifies nature with the scientific picture of it as the realm of law [Kant, by McDowell] |
2280 | Many causes are quite baffling, so it is absurd to deduce causes from final purposes [Descartes] |
2809 | If nature makes everything for a purpose, then plants and animals must have been made for man [Aristotle] |
2800 | The best instruments have one purpose, not many [Aristotle] |
5591 | Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose [Kant] |
5615 | Extension and impenetrability together make the concept of matter [Kant] |
14560 | A ball denting a pillow seems like simultaneous cause and effect, though time identifies which is cause [Kant] |
2272 | There must be at least as much in the cause as there is in the effect [Descartes] |
5545 | Appearances give rules of what usually happens, but cause involves necessity [Kant] |
9755 | The concept of causality entails laws; random causality is a contradiction [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
17709 | We judge causation by relating events together by some law of nature [Kant, by Mares] |
5562 | Experience is only possible because we subject appearances to causal laws [Kant] |
5523 | Causation obviously involves necessity, so it cannot just be frequent association [Kant] |
19669 | For Kant the laws must be necessary, because contingency would destroy representation [Kant, by Meillassoux] |
19672 | Kant fails to prove the necessity of laws, because his reasoning about chance is over-ambitious [Meillassoux on Kant] |
17736 | We can't learn of space through experience; experience of space needs its representation [Kant] |
5531 | Space is an a priori necessary basic intuition, as we cannot imagine its absence [Kant] |
5536 | If space and time exist absolutely, we must assume the existence of two pointless non-entities [Kant] |
5534 | One can never imagine appearances without time, so it is given a priori [Kant] |
5535 | That times cannot be simultaneous is synthetic, so it is known by intuition, not analysis [Kant] |
5560 | The three modes of time are persistence, succession and simultaneity [Kant] |
5561 | If time involved succession, we must think of another time in which succession occurs [Kant] |
2836 | God is not blessed and happy because of external goods, but because of his own nature [Aristotle] |
2289 | Nothing apart from God could have essential existence, and such a being must be unique and eternal [Descartes] |
2269 | God the creator is an intelligent, infinite, powerful substance [Descartes] |
2275 | It is self-evident that deception is a natural defect, so God could not be a deceiver [Descartes] |
5633 | We don't accept duties as coming from God, but assume they are divine because they are duties [Kant] |
5607 | Only three proofs of God: the physico-theological (evidence), the cosmological (existence), the ontological (a priori) [Kant] |
2287 | Existence and God's essence are inseparable, like a valley and a mountain, or a triangle and its properties [Descartes] |
2274 | The idea of God in my mind is like the mark a craftsman puts on his work [Descartes] |
2268 | One idea leads to another, but there must be an initial idea that contains the reality of all the others [Descartes] |
2288 | I cannot think of a supremely perfect being without the supreme perfection of existence [Descartes] |
5609 | If 'this exists' is analytic, either the thing is a thought, or you have presupposed its existence [Kant] |
5610 | If an existential proposition is synthetic, you must be able to cancel its predicate without contradiction [Kant] |
5611 | Being is not a real predicate, that adds something to a concept [Kant] |
5612 | You add nothing to the concept of God or coins if you say they exist [Kant] |
3632 | We mustn't worship God as an image because we have no idea of him [Hobbes on Descartes] |
3633 | We can never conceive of an infinite being [Gassendi on Descartes] |
5036 | Descartes cannot assume that a most perfect being exists without contradictions [Leibniz on Descartes] |
3638 | Existence is not a perfection; it is what makes perfection possible [Gassendi on Descartes] |
8451 | Existence is merely derived from the word 'is' (rather than being a predicate) [Kant, by Orenstein] |
3321 | Modern logic says (with Kant) that existence is not a predicate, because it has been reclassified as a quantifier [Benardete,JA on Kant] |
13732 | Kant never denied that 'exist' could be a predicate - only that it didn't enlarge concepts [Kant, by Fitting/Mendelsohn] |
5608 | Is "This thing exists" analytic or synthetic? [Kant] |
5598 | If you prove God cosmologically, by a regress in the sequences of causes, you can't abandon causes at the end [Kant] |
2802 | Men imagine gods to be of human shape, with a human lifestyle [Aristotle] |
3636 | God didn't give us good judgement even about our own lives [Gassendi on Descartes] |
2278 | Error arises because my faculty for judging truth is not infinite [Descartes] |
2277 | Since God does not wish to deceive me, my judgement won't make errors if I use it properly [Descartes] |
2281 | If we ask whether God's works are perfect, we must not take a narrow viewpoint, but look at the universe as a whole [Descartes] |