Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Essays on Intellectual Powers 1: Preliminary' and 'Principles of Nature and Grace based on Reason'

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14 ideas

1. Philosophy / B. History of Ideas / 2. Ancient Thought
Thales was the first western thinker to believe the arché was intelligible [Roochnik on Thales]
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 5. Reason for Existence
First: there must be reasons; Second: why anything at all?; Third: why this? [Leibniz]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 6. Fundamentals / c. Monads
A monad and its body are living, so life is everywhere, and comes in infinite degrees [Leibniz]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 5. Modality from Actuality
Nothing is stronger than necessity, which rules everything [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 1. Perception
'Perception' is basic internal representation, and 'apperception' is reflective knowledge of perception [Leibniz]
12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 1. Common Sense
Many truths seem obvious, and point to universal agreement - which is what we find [Reid]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 7. Animal Minds
Animals are semi-rational because they connect facts, but they don't see causes [Leibniz]
18. Thought / C. Content / 2. Ideas
Only philosophers treat ideas as objects [Reid]
19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 9. Ambiguity
The ambiguity of words impedes the advancement of knowledge [Reid]
21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 8. The Arts / a. Music
Music charms, although its beauty is the harmony of numbers [Leibniz]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / c. Ultimate substances
Thales said water is the first principle, perhaps from observing that food is moist [Thales, by Aristotle]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 1. Causation
Similar effects come from similar causes, and causes are only what are sufficient for the effects [Reid]
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement
Thales must have thought soul causes movement, since he thought magnets have soul [Thales, by Aristotle]
29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 2. Greek Polytheism
Thales said the gods know our wrong thoughts as well as our evil actions [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]