116 ideas
20262 | Don't use wisdom in order to become clever! [Nietzsche] |
20255 | Early 19th century German philosophers enjoyed concepts, rather than scientific explanations [Nietzsche] |
20260 | Carlyle spent his life vainly trying to make reason appear romantic [Nietzsche] |
20256 | What we think is totally dictated by the language available to express it [Nietzsche] |
20265 | The desire for a complete system requires making the weak parts look equal to the rest [Nietzsche] |
20910 | Everything happens necessarily, and for a reason [Democritus] |
20380 | Why should truth be omnipotent? It is enough that it is very powerful [Nietzsche] |
20235 | Like animals, we seek truth because we want safety [Nietzsche] |
16146 | Two can't be a self-contained unit, because it would need to be one to do that [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20901 | True Being only occurs when it is completely full, with atoms and no void [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20902 | Being does not exist more than non-being [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20904 | The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers [Democritus] |
20903 | The only distinctions are Configuration (shape), Disposition (order) and Turning (position) [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20893 | Nothing comes from non-existence, or passes into it [Democritus, by Diog. Laertius] |
20896 | It is not possible to know what sort each thing is [Democritus] |
3357 | Democritus denies reality to large objects, because atomic entities can't combine to produce new ones [Benardete,JA on Democritus] |
598 | Democritus said that substances could never be mixed, so atoms are the substances [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20258 | Most people treat knowledge as a private possession [Nietzsche] |
1532 | Sensible qualities can't be real if they appear different to different creatures [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
20894 | Man is separated from reality [Democritus] |
517 | All evidence comes from senses, so they are indispensable to the mind [Democritus] |
20897 | Obscure knowledge belongs to the five senses, and genuine knowledge is the other type [Democritus] |
20250 | We may be unable to remember, but we may never actually forget [Nietzsche] |
577 | Democritus says there is either no truth, or it is concealed from us [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20895 | We actually know nothing, and opinions are mere flux [Democritus] |
1528 | We in fact know nothing, but we each restructure our reality with beliefs [Democritus] |
492 | It is obviously impossible to understand the reality of each thing [Democritus] |
515 | We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss [Democritus] |
20270 | There is no one scientific method; we must try many approaches, and many emotions [Nietzsche] |
20892 | Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations [Democritus, by Eusebius] |
5882 | Democritus says soul consists of smooth round bodies brought together in accidental collision [Democritus, by Cicero] |
6034 | Atomists say soul has a rational part in the chest, and a diffused non-rational part [Democritus, by Aetius] |
20912 | The soul is the same as the mind [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20916 | Animals have a share of reason [Democritus, by Porphyry] |
20914 | The directive centre is located in the whole head [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
20131 | We can cultivate our drives, of anger, pity, curiosity, vanity, like a gardener, with good or bad taste [Nietzsche] |
20242 | Things are the boundaries of humanity, so all things must be known, for self-knowledge [Nietzsche] |
20249 | Our knowledge of the many drives that constitute us is hopelessly incomplete [Nietzsche] |
6033 | Democritus said everything happens of necessity, by natural motion of atoms [Democritus, by Cicero] |
5088 | Some say there is a determinate cause for every apparently spontaneous event [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
21670 | Democritus said atoms only move by their natural motions, which are therefore necessary [Democritus, by Cicero] |
20231 | People used to think that outcomes were from God, rather than consequences of acts [Nietzsche] |
24041 | Democritus says spherical atoms are fire, and constitute the soul [psuche] [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20913 | Democritus says the soul is the body, and thinking is thus the mixture of the body [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
20266 | It is essential that wise people learn to express their wisdom, possibly even as foolishness [Nietzsche] |
1540 | Pleasure and pain guide our choices of good and bad [Democritus] |
6248 | Reason is too slow and doubtful to guide all actions, which need external and moral senses [Hutcheson] |
20251 | Actions done for a purpose are least understood, because we complacently think it's obvious [Nietzsche] |
20271 | Beauty in art is the imitation of happiness [Nietzsche] |
20230 | The very idea of a critique of morality is regarded as immoral! [Nietzsche] |
20234 | Morality prevents us from developing better customs [Nietzsche] |
6238 | We approve of actions by a superior moral sense [Hutcheson] |
6239 | We dislike a traitor, even if they give us great benefit [Hutcheson] |
6240 | The moral sense is not an innate idea, but an ability to approve or disapprove in a disinterested way [Hutcheson] |
6242 | We cannot choose our moral feelings, otherwise bribery could affect them [Hutcheson] |
6247 | Everyone feels uneasy when seeing others in pain, unless the others are evil [Hutcheson] |
20237 | Moral feelings are entirely different from the moral concepts used to judge actions [Nietzsche] |
20238 | Treating morality as feelings is just obeying your ancestors [Nietzsche] |
20243 | Human beings are not majestic, either through divine origins, or through grand aims [Nietzsche] |
495 | Wisdom creates a healthy passion-free soul [Democritus] |
20268 | Most dying people have probably lost more important things than what they are about to lose [Nietzsche] |
6244 | Human nature seems incapable of universal malice, except what results from self-love [Hutcheson] |
20236 | Marriage upholds the idea that love, though a passion, can endure [Nietzsche] |
20263 | Fear reveals the natures of other people much more clearly than love does [Nietzsche] |
20252 | Marriage is too serious to be permitted for people in love! [Nietzsche] |
6243 | As death approaches, why do we still care about family, friends or country? [Hutcheson] |
1537 | Happiness is identifying and separating the pleasures [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
6246 | My action is not made good by a good effect, if I did not foresee and intend it [Hutcheson] |
20233 | Punishment has distorted the pure innocence of the contingency of outcomes [Nietzsche] |
20248 | People do nothing for their real ego, but only for a phantom ego created by other people [Nietzsche] |
20246 | If you feel to others as they feel to themselves, you must hate a self-hater [Nietzsche] |
20917 | Contentment comes from moderation and proportion in life [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
20272 | Honesty is a new young virtue, and we can promote it, or not [Nietzsche] |
20240 | The Jews treated great anger as holy, and were in awe of those who expressed it [Nietzsche] |
20244 | Christianity replaces rational philosophical virtues with great passions focused on God [Nietzsche] |
20274 | The cardinal virtues want us to be honest, brave, magnanimous and polite [Nietzsche] |
6241 | Contempt of danger is just madness if it is not in some worthy cause [Hutcheson] |
20257 | Cool courage and feverish bravery have one name, but are two very different virtues [Nietzsche] |
20259 | Teach youth to respect people who differ with them, not people who agree with them [Nietzsche] |
13551 | Democritus says wealth is a burden to the virtuous mind [Democritus, by Seneca] |
20267 | Seeing duty as a burden makes it a bit cruel, and it can thus never become a habit [Nietzsche] |
6245 | That action is best, which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest number [Hutcheson] |
20275 | Most people think they are already complete, but we can cultivate ourselves [Nietzsche] |
20229 | No authority ever willingly accepts criticism [Nietzsche] |
20254 | People govern for the pleasure of it, or just to avoid being governed [Nietzsche] |
20273 | The French Revolution gave trusting Europe the false delusion of instant recovery [Nietzsche] |
6251 | The loss of perfect rights causes misery, but the loss of imperfect rights reduces social good [Hutcheson] |
20232 | Get rid of the idea of punishment! It is a noxious weed! [Nietzsche] |
20253 | Modern wars arise from the study of history [Nietzsche] |
20261 | History does not concern what really happened, but supposed events, which have all the influence [Nietzsche] |
20899 | Atoms cling together, until a stronger necessity disperses them [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20898 | Atoms are irregular, hooked, concave, convex, and many other shapes [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
17542 | 'Full' and 'Void' secularised Parmenides's Being and Not-being [Democritus, by Heisenberg] |
1525 | Atomists say there are only three differences - in shape, arrangement and position [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
493 | Experiences are merely convention; only atoms and the void are real [Democritus] |
5947 | If only atoms are real and the rest is convention, we wouldn't bother to avoid pain [Democritus, by Diogenes of Oen.] |
13219 | When atoms touch, why don't they coalesce, like water drops? [Aristotle on Democritus] |
1533 | Because appearance is infinitely varied, atomists assume infinitely many shapes of atom [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20908 | There could be an atom the size of the world [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
1527 | There must be atoms, to avoid the absurdity of infinite division down to nothing [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20909 | The basic atoms are without qualities - which only arise from encounters between atoms [Democritus, by Galen] |
1536 | If a cone is horizontally sliced the surfaces can't be equal, so it goes up in steps [Democritus] |
23314 | Greeks explained regularity by intellectual design, not by laws [Democritus, by Frede,M] |
20905 | Growth and movement would not exist if there were no void to receive them [Democritus] |
24059 | Democritus is wrong: in a void we wouldn't see a distant ant in exact detail [Aristotle on Democritus] |
5101 | Movement is impossible in a void, because nothing can decide the direction of movement [Aristotle on Democritus] |
20911 | There are unlimited worlds of varying sizes, some without life or water [Democritus, by Hippolytus] |
20241 | Enquirers think finding our origin is salvation, but it turns out to be dull [Nietzsche] |
6250 | We say God is good if we think everything he does aims at the happiness of his creatures [Hutcheson] |
6249 | If goodness is constituted by God's will, it is a tautology to say God's will is good [Hutcheson] |
1535 | Democritus said people imagined gods as the source of what awed or frightened them [Democritus, by Sext.Empiricus] |
20245 | Christianity hoped for a short cut to perfection, that skipped the hard labour of morality [Nietzsche] |
20247 | Christianity was successful because of its heathen rituals [Nietzsche] |
20269 | 'I believe because it is absurd' - but how about 'I believe because I am absurd' [Nietzsche] |
20915 | The soul is destroyed with the body [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
20264 | The easy and graceful aspects of a person are called 'soul', and inner awkwardness is called 'soulless' [Nietzsche] |