"one implies a negation of division in itself, whereas same implies a negation of division from itself, or from that object with which a being is said to be the same"
certum est pars veri as the foundation of positive governing authority
the fit between questions and answers
questions as means to answers
poetry as first history
prudence & seeking divine advice
Being responsible is related to the ability to take responsibility and to the ability to hold responsible.
episcopal ordination as itself a sacrament: Pius XII, Sacramentum ordinis; Vatican II, Lumen Gentium no. 21
Both St. Albert and St. Thomas are skeptical of the notion that episcopacy is a distinct sacramental order from the priesthood because distinctions between sacramental orders should be distinguished according to their relations to the Eucharist, the final cause of the sacraments.
establishing seal vs perfecting seal
All great achievements are at the cost of a sacrifice.
Justice is something intrinsically linked to evidence.
"Homer would never have been so great if he had not often nodded." Vico
"Besides the principle of Divine Providence, and in accordance with it, I advance the principle of the free choice of good and evil on the part of man; without these philosophical principles one could not in any sense speak of justice, of what is right, and of laws." Vico
A consistent pattern in the relation between theology and philosophy is that a theological doctrine will condense into a concentrated form a large number of philosophical doctrines, or at least designated families of philosophical doctrines.
the right to endow churches and charitable foundations, to feed, clothe, and shelter the poor, to guard the land, and to enforce justice
If every truth has a truthmaker, God is the truthmaker for the principle of noncontradiction.
textual vs commentarial interpretations of philosophers (not absolutely opposed)
Love yearns to be eternal, but it is only eternal when it is also grace.
As Socrates practices the true politics of the city, so the saints practice the true politics of the Church.
"Sympathy or solidarity may very well promote the uncovering of truth, especially in situations when people who divulge information are rendering themselves vulnerable in the process." Narayan
the four solaces of the Kalama Sutta & the Platonic argument that nothing bad happens to the good man
knowledge as justified vs as justifiable
faculty psychology as an analysis of the way things can appear/seem.
When people say that faith is not mental assent, they show that they have a defective concept of mind.
the 'mathematical person' as calculating potential
- how is the 'mathematical person' related to the mathematical account of the computer (abstract machine)?
- The Turing machine idea was developed as a mathematical person in process of computing a number according to effective method (marker, markable, eraser, strict discipline). In this way it is like construction with straight edge & compass in geometry.
- Consider Godel on intuition in this light, as well as oracle, etc., in hypercomputation
Due process is a guard against moral panic.
"No one should desire something that exceeds his powers, and is not proportion to them; otherwise he would be a fool." Aquinas
The practical aim of the Magisterium is to cultivate charity and to weed out counterfeits of charity.
"That a prelate is hated by the laity comes about if he neglects the worship of divine praise." Aquinas
deacon : faith :: priest : hope :: bishop : charity
"When two virtues are such that one contains the other, that which is per se for the superior virtue belongs per accidens to the inferior." Aquinas
correction theories of punishment vs rehabilitation theories
- rehabilitation is (1) an end-state and (2) a global state; correction is (1) a focused act connected with the wrong and (2) not concerned with broader issues.
Anything that can be done with propositions can be done with questions and answers.
The same person facing the same evidence in a different order would not necessarily evaluate it the same way, not merely due to subjective ordering effects but also because some evidence gets its character from ordering (e.g., the difference between predictive confirmation and retrodictive confirmation).
| ground of desire/volition | principle of acting | |
| subjective | incentive | maxim |
| objective | motive | law |
"The word *sensation*, as commonly used, is defined not by introspection but by causation." C. D. Broad
It is a standing feature of human moral life that we can be penitent for others.
"Each one offers to the Tabernacle of God what he is able."
"...if there was no divinity, there could be no possible existences, and consequently no truths concerning them." Cockburn
Suspension of judgment presupposes judgment.
"The very notion of reward and punishment implies merit or demerit arising from a compliance with or neglect of some end, which moral agents were *previously* obliged to have pursued; so that obligation must be founded on some principle prior to all consideration of reward and punishment, otherwise there could be no ground for them." Cockburn
the social character of private happiness
moral sentiment as a feel for relations of perfection
relations of perfection that are promulgated by divine will
private happiness and moral sentiment as ultimately rooted in divine will
conscience, moral sentiment, love of humanity, and respect for oneself as four overlapping grounds for treating oneself as being obligated
every obligation as having a fourfold face
- some religious sense poss. needs to be added
The Kantian argument that rational nature/person/humanity is an end in itself is essentially right, but the argument also works for transcendental pure perfections (the true, the good, the beautiful).
treating humanity/rational nature as an end in itself (1) qua rational nature (2) qua social (3) qua embodied in animal nature (4) qua participant in divine providence
modalities as modes of givenness
For there to be a gift there must be a kind of reciprocity.
Gift naturally calls forth return; giving is a transforming circle, an egress and regress, like creation itself.
The system of exchange presupposes giving; to exchange, one must first give.
The return for which gift calls is not repayment of what is given, nor does it call for a definite path of return.
Giving establishes a sharing.
In marriage, each person is acquired as a person.
Quotation is (at least vaguely) attributed reiteration. Notably, most theories of quotation ignore both the repetition and the attribution to some source from which it derives.
It is obvious that most quotation in real conversation is not merely mention, but either witness to original use or else itself derivative use.
When we quote we may repeat the words alone or the use of them as well.
Respect for persons requires respect for rationality, and respect for rationality requires respect for evidence.
helpfulness & unhelpfulness of answers (obviously a kind of fit between means and end)
Every book as a splay of possible interpretations.
Every beautiful story has many possible ugly stories that could have been by mutilation of it.
To respect moral law properly, one must receive it as gift.
In giving the gift, by the attitude in which we give it we choose our reward for the giving.
As Christ is the Word made flesh, so too the unchanging truths of the Faith take cultural flesh.
That only can be truly willed as fully moral that is coherent, discernibly good, universal, and in accordance with divine will.
Kant's discussion of autonomy doubles as an account of the autonomy of philosophy (explicitly, see the discussion of the need for an a priori proof of the cat. imp. in the Groundwork).
From the LoN and KoE formulations together, you can get a divine will formulation: Act according to that maxim that (whether God exists or not) could by its nature be treated as a universal command of God.
beauty as a criterion for theories vs beauty as a criterion for inquiry
simplicity, naturalness, elegance
unifying, nonarbitrary, engaging the essential
Experiment, like photography, requires a frame, a boundary that demarcates, within which occurs what is of primary focus, selected out of the greater whole.
