“It is the peculiar characteristic of the [Stoic] wise man that he does nothing which he could regret, nothing against his will, but does everything honourably, consistently, seriously, and rightly; that he anticipates nothing as if it were bound to happen, is shocked by nothing when it does happen under the impression that its happening is unexpected and strange, refers everything to his own judgement, stands by his own decisions.”
Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 5.81
Category Archives: Quotes
“Every metaphysical question always encompasses the whole range of metaphysical problems. Each question is itself always the whole. Therefore, second, every metaphysical question can be asked only in such a way that the questioner as such is present together with the question, that is, placed in the question. From this we conclude that metaphysical inquiry must be posed as a whole and from the essential position of the existence (Dasein) that questions.”
Heidegger – What is Metaphysics?
“When writing your essay treat your reader like an idiot and a bastard. An idiot because he won’t understand what you have to say, and a bastard because he wont even try.”
One of my professors
“Moral philosophy is not properly the doctrine of how we are to make ourselves happy, but of how we are to become worthy of happiness”
Immanuel Kant - The Critique of Practical Reason
Searle on the Turing test
“The principle on which we ‘solve’ the problem of other minds, … , is not: same-behaviour-ergo-same-mental-phenomena. That is the old mistake enshrined in the Turing Test. If this principle were correct, we would all have to conclude that radios are conscious because they exhibit intelligent verbal behaviour.”
- John Searle, The Rediscovery of The Mind