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Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy QUOTES

Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy QUOTES

1 " How you think about what you are doing affects how you do it, or whether you do it at all. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

2 " There are always people telling us what we want, how they will provide it, and what we should believe. Convictions are infectious, and people can make others convinced of almost anything. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

3 " Others may want to stand upon the ‘politics of identity’, or in other words the kind of identification with a particular tradition, or group, or national or ethnic identity that invites them to turn their back on outsiders who question the ways of the group. They will shrug off criticism: their values are ‘incommensurable’ with the values of outsiders. They are to be understood only by brothers and sisters within the circle. People like to retreat to within a thick, comfortable, traditional set of folkways, and not to worry too much about their structure, or their origins, or even the criticisms that they may deserve. Reflection opens the avenue to criticism, and the folkways may not like criticism. In this way, ideologies become closed circles, primed to feel outraged by the questioning mind. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

4 " Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the source of her wonders. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

5 " To process thoughts well is a matter of being able to avoid confusion, detect ambiguities, keep things in mind one at a time, make reliable arguments, become aware of alternatives, and so on. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

6 " Reflection opens the avenue to criticism, and the folkways may not like criticism. In this way, ideologies become closed circles, primed to feel outraged by the questioning mind. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

7 " Science similarly contains within itself the devices for correcting the illusions of science. That is its crowning glory. When we come upon intellectual endeavours that contain no such devices—one might cite psychoanalysis, grand political theories, ‘new age’ science, creationist science—we need not be interested. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

8 " the unexamined life is not worth living. It has insisted on the power of rational reflection to winnow out bad elements in our practices, and to replace them with better ones. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

9 " So the middle-ground answer reminds us that reflection is continuous with practice, and our practice can go worse or better according to the value of our reflections. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

10 " I cannot climb out onto the nature of your mind. So how then do I know anything about your mental life? How do I know, for instance, that you see the colour blue the way that I do? Might it be that some of us feel pain more, but make less fuss about it, or that others feel pain less, but make more fuss? "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

11 " Reflection matters because it is continuous with practice. How you think about what you are doing affects how you do it, or whether you do it at all. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

12 " The time we take out, whether it is to do mathematics or music, or to read Plato or Jane Austen, is time to be cherished. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

13 " A system of thought is something we live in, just as much as a house, and if our intellectual house is cramped and confined, we need to know what better structures are possible. The "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

14 " So the middle-ground answer reminds us that reflection is continuous with practice, and our practice can go worse or better according to the value of our reflections. A system of thought is something we live in, just as much as a house, and if our intellectual house is cramped and confined, we need to know what better structures are possible "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

15 " Our concepts or ideas form the mental housing in which we live. We may end up proud of the structures we have built. Or we may believe that they need dismantling and starting afresh. But first, we have to know what they are. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

16 " Human beings can grow to make killing fields, and they can grow to make gardens. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

17 " it seems as though Descartes (once more influenced by ideas from previous philosophical traditions) may have slipped into thinking that an idea of X actually shares X. So an idea of infinity, for instance, would be an infinite idea. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

18 " getting clear about the right categories with which to understand human motivation, is an important practical task. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

19 " our ideas and concepts can be compared with the lenses through which we see the world. In philosophy the lens is itself the topic of study. Success will be a matter not of how much you know at the end, but of what you can do when the going gets tough: when the seas of argument rise, and confusion breaks out. Success will mean taking seriously the implications of ideas. WHAT IS THE POINT? "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

20 " Reflection enables us to step back, to see our perspective on a situation as perhaps distorted or blind, at the very least to see if there is argument for preferring our ways, or whether it is just subjective. "

― Simon Blackburn , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy