Brouwer takes the difference between formalism and intuitionism to lie in the nature of mathematical exactness -- the intuitionist says it is intellectual, the formalist says it is on paper.
? How far can the traditionary argument be assimilated to design arguments?
? How far can it be linked to the ancient idea of institution of laws?
Republic VIII and Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism
A problem with John Bosco's preventive system of education is that it depends on constant surveillance and environmental control. The strength of the preventive system seems to be in synousia.
each sibyl as a distinct representation of the human intellect
The state must treat citizens as ends in themselves.
Our attitude toward our bodies is (chiefly) deontic.
Deference to a distinct source of norms is a necessary condition for the functioning of a court.
degrees of possibility & closeness to actuality (raises questions about intension and remission of possibility; one can prima facie make sense of this if we link possibility to something that already has intensity -- e.g., power)
As intensity of slow burning pain and intensity of sharp needle-like pain are not subjectively assessed the same way (e.g., different physiological processes), they cannot be directly compared.
Being offended carries no intrinsic title to retaliation.
In the relation of morality to politics, the two atrocious extremes are to treat them as having nothing to do with each other and to subordinate morality to particular political positions.
friendship as a kind of voluntary cousinship
Propositions are a crude tool for exploring the world.
The means are eminently in the end.
Sensible practice is a protection for sensible belief.
"We all wear masks to one another, and it is not in our power to unmask ourselves even if we could." Brownson
marks of design as marks of beginning of existence
"No reform can be effected without sacrifice, and sacrifice comes not from selfishness." Brownson
True greatness in historical writing depends on knowing something of 'both sides of the story'.
A society must be ordered in such a way that the wealthy understand that they depend on the whole people.
Empires tend toward religious syncretism.
ornamentation as a guidance for delight
The demonization of real opponents is often an attempt to convince oneself of the morality of some atrocity, real or imagined.
Without a shared sense of honor, it is difficult to stop escalation of conflict.
herd immunity against political violence
Conscientiousness, even on the whole, seems to have no tendency to promote happiness if by happiness one means 'balance of pleasure over pain'.
Failure to satisfy a preference is not in and of itself a bad thing.
Whitehead's God as ultimate historian of philosophy
the world's indefinite power of changing
Using clear and distinct ideas requires a topics. (Vico)
(1) The capacity for doubt requires intelligible disjunction of possibilities.
(2) Full and complete doubt requires intelligible disjunction of all possibilities.
(3) Intelligible disjunction of all possibilities requires an infinite intelligible.
the link between the traditionalist approach to language and the divine command approach to obligation
freedom of speech as freedom to declaim vs freedom of speech as freedom to dialogue
It is a weakness of Bayesian accounts of evidence that they do not recognize that evidence must not only be noted but confirmed as evidence; and one may even then hold it under question.
We reason as much with hypothesized evidence as we do with real evidence.
Cambridge changes as semiotic changes?
Truce requires troth, and troth requires trust.
Arguments for euthanasia are often easy to transform into arguments for dueling.
rule of law as a system of truces and shared protections
Tu quoque is sometimes used to suggest someone has no standing, sometimes to suggest that they are lying, sometimes to suggest that they are showing no sense of proportion, sometimes merely to show that they are inconsistent in application of norms.
One may hold that pain is an intrinsic appearance of evil without holding that it is an intrinsic evil.
intrinsic vs extrinsic title to strike
divorce and remarriage within sacramental marriage // apostasy
The pursuit of victory, unrestrained by temperance, is a dangerous thing; to achieve victory men may do terrible things, endure terrible things, set aside every warning, lay waste their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, until all is ash and suffering and despair.
A conscience should not be a last resort.
"There is a natural Nemesis to all over-strong and exaggerated language." R W Church
The tendency to authoritarianism attaches itself to any system or ideology in power.
"There can be no right of speech where any man, however lifted up, however humble, however young or however old, is overawed by force, and compelled to suppress his honest sentiments." Frederick Douglass
People regard reputation as so important that they will endure immense humiliation or pain to protect it; but the importance of reputation has no straightforward relation to actual pleasures and pains.
