Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Thus we might define an “ideal” as something desired, not egocentric, and such that the person desiring it wishes that every one else also desired it. I may wish that everybody had enough to eat, that everybody felt kindly towards everybody, and so on, and if I wish anything of this kind I shall also wish others to wish it. In this way, I can build
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Modern philosophy, however, has retained, for the most part, an individualistic and subjective character. This is very marked in Descartes, who builds up all knowledge from the certainty of his own existence, and accepts clearness and distinctness (both subjective) as criteria of truth.
Bertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Some mathematician said that the pleasure lies not in discovering the truth, but in searching for it.’
Leo Tolstoy • Anna Karenina (Penguin Classics)
CHAPTER X Protagoras
Bertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, "Why should ANYTHING go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in
... See moreG. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton • Orthodoxy
This is an astronomical truth; but if, for “a satellite of the earth,” you substitute “the moon” or any other proper name, the result is either meaningless or a mere tautology. “One,” therefore, is a property of certain concepts, just as “ten” is a property of the concept “my finger.” But to argue “the earth has one satellite, namely the moon,
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell - Message To Future Generations (1959)
youtu.beUp to a certain point, the theory of universals is quite simple. In language, there are proper names, and there are adjectives. The proper names apply to “things” or “persons,” each of which is the only thing or person to which the name in question applies. The sun, the moon, France, Napoleon, are unique; there are not a number of instances of
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
All definite knowledge—so I should contend—belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. But between theology and science there is a No Man’s Land, exposed to attack from both sides; this No Man’s Land is philosophy.