http://www.thegreatideas.org/gi103.html

If there is some end of the things we do...will not knowledge of it, have a great influence on life? Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what we should? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is. --ARISTOTLE

Great ideas in the sense of influential as opposed to good ideas.

On my list of good ideas there are quite a few of those 103 that I would exclude (e.g. "God").


Regards,

Niclas

Nsande [Niclas],

Western civilization [Mesapotomamians, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Judaic, Christian] was built then [from the BC's to very recently] by people who labored under either the greatest illusion or greatest belief of all time.

So, either way the idea still counts as Great, wouldn't you say?

Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding how you define good.

Probably the main point is that Dr Adler should change the title to "MY 103 GREAT IDEAS" because this is really subjective...

Exoticow,The subjective vs the objective is a key philosophic concept in epistemology.

You are most probably right about that but even if subjectivity/objectivity were included in his list as Great Ideas, that doesn't mean that he was taking those concepts into serious account.I guess what I meant to say is that I was surprised to see a specific list, given that ideas, especially great ones, are, in my belief, evolving and heavily dependant on the historical circumstances.Therefore, although I agree to most of his choices, I still believe he should have made a point that this list expresses merely his opinion at this point of world history.PS. For what it's worth, thanx for taking our brains outside the box Hamilton!

www.radicalacademy.comhttp://www.amazon ... 36-3575140 [Adler's How To Read A Book]

"I guess what I meant to say is that I was surprised to see a specific list, given that ideas, especially great ones, are, in my belief, evolving and heavily dependant on the historical circumstances."My questions then are three:1) Upon what evidence is your belief founded that ideas are evolving and heavily dependant on historical circumstances?2) Do ideas or facts exist and are provably true or false?3) How would we go about determining 1 and 2 ?

1) Upon what evidence is your belief founded that ideas are evolving and heavily dependant on historical circumstances?common sense; intutition. that answer may encourage a splinter discussion, but that's no bad thing!2) Do ideas or facts exist and are provably true or false?you can't believe in maths and answer no to that question. so i say yes. (how's that for logic?! )

Very shortly and only using common sense:Ideas would not exist without the existence of human beings.The words are not the ideas.Therefore, it is not eg the word "beauty" the idea, but what it means and that is not static (compare paintings of women in the middle ages and now). I even doubt that man in his early stages could conceive beauty but maybe I'm wrong...Justice: Now that's a concept that has been through heaven and hell...Government: I think the idea of a government only applies in the case were many need to be guided by a few so that there is no anarchy. But in ancient Greece people used to get together on a hill next to the Parthenon to discuss important issues and then vote. What was government back then?Angel: What I get in mind is different than what a kid in the centre of Africa gets in mind and that's given one believes in Metaphysics...I used some examples from the list maybe because I don't know enough about philosophy to build general arguments but I suppose you can guess where I'm coming from with the above examples. Nevertheless, being young and always on the look-out for constructive criticism, I am waiting for your corrections Uncle Hamilton!

Ideas would not exist without the existence of human beings. >>I argue the contrary position.In all the random interactions of matter, a self-replicating, evolvable combination sometimes emerges. Although the odds against it are astronomically small, there is an astronomical amount of matter and time for it to happen. This combination is an idea. Although it has physical form at any point in time, its existence does not depend on any particular piece of matter. As long as some matter is in this combination somewhere, the idea will continue to spread.Sometimes two of these ideas come into proximity and form a more complex idea. This is the process that resulted in human beings. But the ideas would exist, spread, combine and evolve without the accident of humans. Humans could not exist without the ideas.The particular set of ideas that humans are consiously aware of is those that have survival value, not those that are true in some abstract sense. "It would be fun to wrestle a saber-tooth tiger" died out in the paleolithic age, but not because it was false. "Food with lots of sugars and fats are good for you" survived and grew, despite its dubious veracity.Humans are carrying cases for ideas, probably to be soon replaced by better cases.

I disagree with all of you.I think.http://radicalacademy.com/adiphilglossary.htm#question of universalsAlso, there is an excellent summary of medieval philosophy, culminating in Aquinas synthesis of Aristolelian and contemporary Christian thought. This was necessitated by interpretations of Arabian/Muslim philosophers who were then developing their own philosophical interpretations of Aristotle's works as they were translated.The problem of Universals and Ideas is critical to understanding philosophy, so please don't underestimate its importance -- it merits diligent and patient study.I'll deal with Ockham's attempt to cut himself with his own razor later on...

I keep having this box apearing on my screen saying:"A runtime error has occured. Do you wish to debug?"Does anyone know how to stop this happening?The reason i use this thread is because i can't create a new one (because of this box appearing).Thanks!

I keep having this box apearing on my screen saying:"A runtime error has occured. Do you wish to debug?"Does anyone know how to stop this happening?The reason i use this thread is because i can't create a new one (because of this box appearing).Thanks!Check out your Universals.

But in ancient Greece people used to get together on a hill next to the Parthenon to discuss important issues and then vote. What was government back then? >>The Greeks, among other things, mandated worship of the State created gods. Socrates was executed for his refusal to do so.