130 ideas
11283 | There is pure deductive reasoning, and explanatory demonstration reasoning [Aristotle, by Politis] |
1672 | Maybe everything could be demonstrated, if demonstration can be reciprocal or circular [Aristotle] |
20910 | Everything happens necessarily, and for a reason [Democritus] |
1684 | Two falsehoods can be contrary to one another [Aristotle] |
12145 | Definitions are of what something is, and that is universal [Aristotle] |
12384 | Definition by division needs predicates, which are well ordered and thorough [Aristotle] |
12075 | An Aristotelian definition is causal [Aristotle, by Witt] |
9066 | You can define objects by progressively identifying what is the same and what is different [Aristotle] |
12382 | What it is and why it is are the same; screening defines and explains an eclipse [Aristotle] |
1668 | An axiom is a principle which must be understood if one is to learn anything [Aristotle] |
12376 | Demonstrations by reductio assume excluded middle [Aristotle] |
12373 | Something holds universally when it is proved of an arbitrary and primitive case [Aristotle] |
12363 | Everything is either asserted or denied truly [Aristotle] |
13004 | Aristotle's axioms (unlike Euclid's) are assumptions awaiting proof [Aristotle, by Leibniz] |
12377 | Mathematics is concerned with forms, not with superficial properties [Aristotle] |
12372 | The essence of a triangle comes from the line, mentioned in any account of triangles [Aristotle] |
12369 | A unit is what is quantitatively indivisible [Aristotle] |
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] |
16657 | Substance, Quantity and Quality are real; other categories depend on those three [Henry of Ghent] |
20896 | It is not possible to know what sort each thing is [Democritus] |
16658 | The only reality in the category of Relation is things from another category [Henry of Ghent] |
18910 | To seek truth, study the real connections between subjects and attributes [Aristotle] |
16645 | Accidents are diminished beings, because they are dispositions of substance (unqualified being) [Henry of Ghent] |
1675 | Separate Forms aren't needed for logic, but universals (one holding of many) are essential [Aristotle] |
1677 | We can forget the Forms, as they are irrelevant, and not needed in giving demonstrations [Aristotle] |
1687 | Why are being terrestrial and a biped combined in the definition of man, but being literate and musical aren't? [Aristotle] |
3357 | Democritus denies reality to large objects, because atomic entities can't combine to produce new ones [Benardete,JA on Democritus] |
1681 | Units are positionless substances, and points are substances with position [Aristotle] |
598 | Democritus said that substances could never be mixed, so atoms are the substances [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
12146 | Definitions recognise essences, so are not themselves essences [Aristotle] |
17039 | The predicates of a thing's nature are necessary to it [Aristotle] |
11994 | Aristotelian essences are properties mentioned at the starting point of a science [Aristotle, by Kung] |
12381 | What is necessary cannot be otherwise [Aristotle] |
1690 | A stone travels upwards by a forced necessity, and downwards by natural necessity [Aristotle] |
12072 | For Aristotle knowledge is explanatory, involving understanding, and principles or causes [Aristotle, by Witt] |
12073 | 'Episteme' means grasping causes, universal judgments, explanation, and teaching [Aristotle, by Witt] |
12378 | The reason why is the key to knowledge [Aristotle] |
12364 | We understand a thing when we know its explanation and its necessity [Aristotle] |
12370 | Some understanding, of immediate items, is indemonstrable [Aristotle] |
12366 | We only understand something when we know its explanation [Aristotle] |
1685 | No one has mere belief about something if they think it HAS to be true [Aristotle] |
1673 | Knowledge proceeds from principles, so it is hard to know if we know [Aristotle] |
22012 | Kant says things-in-themselves cause sensations, but then makes causation transcendental! [Henry of Ghent, by Pinkard] |
12379 | You cannot understand anything through perception [Aristotle] |
1532 | Sensible qualities can't be real if they appear different to different creatures [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
16725 | Some knowledge is lost if you lose a sense, and there is no way the knowledge can be replaced [Aristotle] |
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] |
1693 | Animals may have some knowledge if they retain perception, but understanding requires reasons to be given [Aristotle] |
23309 | Aristotle's concepts of understanding and explanation mean he is not a pure empiricist [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
9067 | Many memories of the same item form a single experience [Aristotle] |
1671 | Sceptics say justification is an infinite regress, or it stops at the unknowable [Aristotle] |
1670 | When you understand basics, you can't be persuaded to change your mind [Aristotle] |
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] |
12147 | The principles of demonstrations are definitions [Aristotle] |
12383 | There must be definitions before demonstration is possible [Aristotle] |
24068 | Demonstration is more than entailment, as the explanatory order must match the causal order [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
17310 | Aristotle gets asymmetric consequence from demonstration, which reflects real causal priority [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
21359 | Aristotle doesn't actually apply his theory of demonstration to his practical science [Leroi on Aristotle] |
12365 | We can know by demonstration, which is a scientific deduction leading to understanding [Aristotle] |
1667 | Premises must be true, primitive and immediate, and prior to and explanatory of conclusions [Aristotle] |
10918 | Demonstrative understanding rests on necessary features of the thing in itself [Aristotle] |
12374 | Demonstrations must be necessary, and that depends on the middle term [Aristotle] |
12148 | Demonstrations are syllogisms which give explanations [Aristotle] |
1680 | Demonstration is better with fewer presuppositions, and it is quicker if these are familiar [Aristotle] |
1674 | All demonstration is concerned with existence, axioms and properties [Aristotle] |
1679 | Universal demonstrations are about thought; particular demonstrations lead to perceptions [Aristotle] |
12371 | A demonstration is a deduction which proceeds from necessities [Aristotle] |
1691 | Aim to get definitions of the primitive components, thus establishing the kind, and work towards the attributes [Aristotle] |
1683 | We learn universals from many particulars [Aristotle] |
12380 | Universals are valuable because they make the explanations plain [Aristotle] |
12367 | What is most universal is furthest away, and the particulars are nearest [Aristotle] |
12385 | Are particulars explained more by universals, or by other particulars? [Aristotle] |
1689 | Explanation is of the status of a thing, inferences to it, initiation of change, and purpose [Aristotle] |
1686 | What we seek and understand are facts, reasons, existence, and identity [Aristotle] |
12357 | Explanation and generality are inseparable [Aristotle, by Wedin] |
20892 | Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations [Democritus, by Eusebius] |
1669 | The foundation or source is stronger than the thing it causes [Aristotle] |
1678 | Universals give better explanations, because they are self-explanatory and primitive [Aristotle] |
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] |
9068 | Perception creates primitive immediate principles by building a series of firm concepts [Aristotle] |
9069 | A perception lodging in the soul creates a primitive universal, which becomes generalised [Aristotle] |
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] |
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] |
9070 | We learn primitives and universals by induction from perceptions [Aristotle] |
12368 | Negation takes something away from something [Aristotle] |
1692 | If you shouldn't argue in metaphors, then you shouldn't try to define them either [Aristotle] |
1540 | Pleasure and pain guide our choices of good and bad [Democritus] |
495 | Wisdom creates a healthy passion-free soul [Democritus] |
1537 | Happiness is identifying and separating the pleasures [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
20917 | Contentment comes from moderation and proportion in life [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
13551 | Democritus says wealth is a burden to the virtuous mind [Democritus, by Seneca] |
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] |
12375 | Whatever holds of a kind intrinsically holds of it necessarily [Aristotle] |
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] |
1688 | Properties must be proved, but not essence; but existents are not a kind, so existence isn't part of essence [Aristotle] |
1535 | Democritus said people imagined gods as the source of what awed or frightened them [Democritus, by Sext.Empiricus] |
20915 | The soul is destroyed with the body [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |