three objective standards of reliability: self-survival, species-survival, rationality.
-> None of the three are reducible to the others
-> We could also call these practical criteria of success
the (lack of) role for experiment D-N models of explanation
narrative explanation & nomological contingency
experiment as the primary (but not only) test case for accounts of scientific explanation -> one must account for how experiment can be explanatory in a theoretical context
Cognitive reliability is neither utility for food-gathering, nor utility for predator-avoiding, nor utility for reproducing, nor utility for raising young, but something different that sometimes feeds into any of these.
negotiation for symbolic acts as diplomatic testing ('acts of good faith' as evidence)
Practical success is a teleological measure.
the gifts of the Spirit as making possible life according ot the Decalogue, understood as an account of friendship with God and neighbor
cosmological, ontological, teleological, and pragmatic arguments in the natural order and in the moral order
"The central idea of the great part of the Old Testament may be called the loneliness of God." Chesterton
"Job puts forward a note of interrogation; God answers with a note of exclamation. Instead of proving to Job that it is an explicable world, He insists that it is a much stranger world than Job ever thought it was." Chesterton
Love is first gift, and that to which all honest giving tends.
Charity is the internal teacher of prayer.
relative supererogation + problem prioritization -> people tend to have difficulty with supererorgation in moral contexts because they assume that all moral problems are of equal priority
paraliturgical structures in the liturgical commonwealth
property, trade, contract, government
mutual support structures, peri-marital structures, and study structures in the liturgical commonwealth
the palaetiology of genre
catastrophism & uniformitarianism in studies of Christian origins
"All palaetiological sciences, since they undertake to refer changes to their causes, assume a certain classification of the phenomena which change brings forth, and a konwledge of the operation of the causes of change." Whewell
monasticism as perpetual pilgrimage
sacraments as missions
"The Paternoster contains all the duties we owe to God, the acts of all the virtues, and the petitions for all our spiritual and corporeal needs." Montfort
"Each word of the Lord's Prayer is a tribute we pay to the perfections of God." Montfort
To pray the Lord's Prayer with sincerity is itself to imitate Christ.
The fear of the Lord prepares for wisdom by destroying pride.
warning passages in Hebrews: 2:1-4; 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:12; 10:19-39; 12:14-29
A story as structured as music would be extremely repetitive; there may be broad analogies, but it is difficult to see how there could be the same intricacy of structure. Narrative is an art thriving more on novelty than on harmony.
patterns of hospitality in Genesis
probability-versimilitude & approximation-verisimilitude
"That which, being moved, moves another, must cause a motion like its own." Aquinas
The idea of uploading the mind is derived only from the sense that the human mind is nobler than any given material.
standpoint & authority (standpoint theory as a way of talking about authority)
having the kinds of righteousness that meets with mercy
weaving of implicatures as narrative technique
All virtues exhibit traces of prudence.
the Nyaya syllogism as a way of moving from Diamond to Null
shared bodily integrity
Nostalgia is not inconsistent with optimistic hope.
equality as sameness of place in order
Ideas reach out for communication.
The first chapters of Genesis display an ongoing degeneration, a continuous Fall.
Half of romance is wanting to know.
casuistics as practical topics
classification as an ordering of middle terms
Broad reasons for being skeptical cannot stand against specific reasons for not being skeptical.
The attempt to make the subject/object distinction take precedence over all others is the primary philosophical error of the post-medieval era.
Love of truth demands leisure to explore.
conceptual analysis through successive approximation
the passions as khora, reason as demiurge
reason as drawing flat animal passions into volumes
-->virtues as volumes of planar passions; but perhaps instead they are hypervolumes of the volumes of rationalized passions, passions intentionalized by reason
Justice of law is the virtue of common good, and turns all other virtues to common good.
the habits of a good writer: planning, sticking to it, exercising restraint, considering the reader (writing subvirtues)
"The best maxim in writing, perhaps, is really to love your reader for his own sake." C. S. Peirce W 1:9
(1) interest in an indefinite community
(2) recognition of the possibility of this interest being made supreme
(3) hope in the unlimited continuance of intellectual activity
No one is a genuine traditionalist who does not strive to achieve precision in judgment.
clothing reason in splendid signs
"The concept of the actually understood thing is also a concept of the understanding, through which the latter can understand itself." Aquinas (DA 724)
dialectical strength as safety of inference times probability of inference
rigor in the broad sense as rational replicability
in the strict sense as validity with methods oriented toward accuracy
note that when talking about Euclid people tend to ignore the importance of the latter, despite the fact that Euclid definitely does not
There are many different kinds of convention; and thus there are many different accounts required for it.
The Settling Condition (that one can only intend what one takes to be up to one to decide) seems clearly false (consider overdetermination cases and symbolic actions); it confuses the end of deliberation with a normal effect thereof. (Indeed, it requires a very weird view of the ends of action.)
Much early human agency is shared agency.
Much of childhood is a rudimentary philosophical dialogue.
We may be tempted beyond our strength, but never beyond God's.
Empiricism is too weak to establish causal closures.
paradigmatic examples as tangent-like approximations
Codes are designed to be breakable; one just wishes the means of doing so to be very easy to restrict.
distance as an abstraction from area
infinitesimals and infinites as formal approximations, in mathematics, of potentiality
love, joy, and peace as stimuli for prudence
Even assumptions not worth worrying about are worth pointing out.
"The expertise of weavers and the like in making cloth and other things, the reasons and rules governing verbal acts of those whose speech is competent, the reason of children's learning an alphabet in a certain order, all such depend on an independent being, because they are reasons. This is like the expertise that is a causal factor in the production of a pot the like of which has not been encountered before, skill in a craft comparatively superior, and like 'Chaitra' and 'Maitra' and like the letters in a message, as well as the meaning of sequences in the Paninian grammar." Udayana
Matters of precedent encourage the development of procedures of consensus.
meditative prayer as virtue training
prudence as structuring our lives into a narrative unity
omne quod est per accidens, reducitur ad id quod est per se
shangdi, tianzhu, tian
Kant's 'happiness' is "general well-being and contentment with one's condition".
Dante's trip in the Divine Comedy as a journey into the depths of the soul (cp. St. Teresa's notion of dwelling in outer or inner rooms)
->but in a sense hell is reversed here, because we journey to most-hell, then out the other side. The earth's center is the circumference of the soul.
Real presence is an act, not a static thing; but it is an act of Christ, not ourselves.
Without covenant there is no liberation.
Much of physics is grounded in experiment only when experiments are taken in a very abstract way--schematic, statistically summarized, and so forth.
As apostolic the Church is part of the missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
names working as quantifiers
Reason: the True; Will: the Good; Irascible: the Challenging/Difficult; Concupiscible: the Enticing
randomness as many-cause-ness without order
the passions as intimations of intelligibilities
In subsidiarity, the higher directs, stimulates, coordinates, supplies, and integrates the work of the lower.
What gave the monastic movement force was that it was an organized prayer life incorporating work and hospitality.
recognition of community, vision of its continuance, active work in its interest
"When the imagination is raised, men do not stand to enquire whether the motive be true or false." Clara Reeve, The Progress of Romance
moods of inquiry: universal (multiperspectival) resistant, universal flexible, consistent (uniperspectival) flexible, consistent resistant
Traditions are networks and not just chains of transmission, strengthened by supports and reviewed for signs of good transmission.
To endure a tradition must have protections against three forms of craving (for individual glory, for wealth, and for pleasure) which become harmful to it, poisonous, as they tend to subver the tradition in the service of this craving for more.
cardinality as being more an account of equality-to-a-particular-number than of number itself
It is the destiny of all to live with the past.
Peircean pragmatics as describing participation in a tradition of inquiry
The danger of equality as a political value is how easily it can come to mean 'same as me & on my terms'.
dialogue as philosophical experiment
Exaggerations tend to avoid being lies, when they aren't just ordinary overestimates or courtesies, by being genuine approximations or idealizations.
Box: argument fail; Null: argument problematic; Diamond: argument showing indications of problem (this looks like it would probably be an M system)
D: Every failed argument is an argument with indications of being problematic.
M: Every failed argument is a problematic argument.
What has secondary causes has a first cause.
What is an effect has a cause.
Mathematical truths are obviously action-guiding when known; most truths are. Indeed, in the appropriate context all are.
moral truths as prerequisites for the existence of persons
moral realism - moral noncognitivism - moral error theory
physics realism - physics noncognitivism - physics error theory
(these latter are actually discussed in various ways, but usually indirectly in considering mathematical realism)
intelligibility -> intentionality -> verity
(1) Claims about good (truth, etc.) as such are intelligible
(2) because they are about something possible
(3) which can only be if there is good &c. as such.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a liturgical and sacramental doctrine: it is built into the structure of the sacraments and the prayer of the Church.
Our first acquaintance with truth is in its normative aspect, i.e., as a good and a standard.
There are important links between analogical inference and hte use of signs that need to be more fully explored. (parallelism of signs)
Llull's Figure T in prudential reasoning
The tendency of the intellect is a divineward tendency.
the sociology of devotion-cultures in the Church
normativity -> normality
regulativity -> regularity
specification and diamondization both preserve soundness (dictum de omni et nullo)
renormalization of universes of discourses (e.g., to handle exceptions)
Long-scale chance with consistent small-scale final causation approximates large-scale final causation.
Debunking arguments are too often built on the assumption that possible diagnosis is necessarily a cure.
Catechesis is linked to forgiveness of sins.
omne corpus mixtum harmoniam habet et complexionem
two tasks of holy order
(1) to prepare the people for the sacrament
(2) to consecrate the sacrament
Vengeance is imprecise.
to think in big circles, that the same point may be known initially and after study
experiments as diagrams
universal quantity as inference-warranting
the primacy of family as an extension and protection of human dignity
capital vices as simulacra of happiness
(1) In every human being, we find some kind of natural unity of reason and sensibility that is not merely by chance, but is regular.
(2) Reason and sensibility are contrarieties capable of discordance.
(3) Contrarieties capable of discordance are unified only through a cause enabling each and all to harmonize to definite end.
knowledge of kinds -> knowledge of contraries -> knowledge of privation
The structure of freedom is judgment.
Because no plausible noncognitivist account of logic exists, and because logic overlaps with ethics, logic is a weak point for any moral noncognitivism.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is a summation and summary of all salvation history.
marriage as a basic form of the rule of law
Isidorean etymologies as guides for figurative language
Hope is exercised one step at a time.
"Out of the second of Maccabees they will draw purgatory and the worship of saints; out of Tobit satisfactions, exorcisms, and what not." Calvin in the Antidote
-> Note that II Macc and Tobit (a) predate Christ and (b) regardless of canonicity were never regarded as heretical by the Church Fathers.
-> 1 Cor 10:20 // Bar 4:7 (note Calvin on the former)
Final causes are that on the basis of which we reason counterfactually.
common good & universalization
Philosophical progress is most often through many legions of little improvements.
suppositional necessity
(1) prediction by regularity
(2) hypothetical construction & limit extrapolation
(3) counterfactual reasoning
While sympathy can be materially solidary, true human solidarity must be rational.
The rule of opinion is always more tyrannical than rule of law.
The inability to repent is a sign of false love.
The greatest technological and theoretical advances are those that also allow massive advances in pedagogy.
Politics governed by outrage is politics of endless escalation.
It is manifestly the case that in reasoning we observe our reasoning; and being able to do so is a precondition of communicating our reasoning.
The witness of dying well is a chief pillar of a genuine moral life.
Baptism is a vocation to martyrdom.
papal and conciliar teaching as having a legal and moral authority insofar as it is a rational ordering for the common good of the Church that derives from the sacraments and is put forward for obedience
Kilwardby takes dictum de omni et nullo as the distinctive feature of categorical syllogism, & hypothetical to involve topical relations.
There is a difference between writing an allegory and deliberately writing a work that may be read as an allegory.
The extent of one's repentance is the measure of one's holiness.
indulgences as sacramentalia adjunct to the sacrament of reconciliation
baptism-blessings; penance -penitential practices; eucharist - almsgivings; confirmation - lay ministries
theology of consecrated virginity // angelology
Friendship is more precious than immortality.
In teaching, reason itself becomes gift.
The doctrine of existential import yields weird results in modal situations; e.g., 'At least one flying machine can be made'. This weirdness ramifies, requiring weird approaches to modality, etc.
For a term to be empty only means it is irrelevant to the universe of discourse.
the liar paradox as the abstract form of all contradiction and impossibility
Russell's paradox as an illicit shift between predicate and class (typed logics in effect regularize the relation simply by greater regimentation)
a fortiori by specification
a fortiori by analogy
a fortiori by comparison
a fortiori by limitation (idealization)
fear - (Our Father who are in heaven) hallowed by thy name
piety - Thy kingdom come
knowledge - Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
fortitude - give us this day our daily bread
counsel - forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
understanding - lead us not into temptation
wisdom - deliver us from evil
mind correctly ordered to
good & evil: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness
neighbor: goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness
lesser things: modesty, continence, chastity
(Aquinas)
| Gift | Aquinas | Bonaventure |
| fear | hope | temperance |
| piety | justice | justice |
| knowledge | faith(1) | prudence |
| fortitude | fortitude | fortitude |
| counsel | prudence | hope |
| understanding | faith (2) | faith |
| wisdom | love | love |
We receive only that hope our humility allows.
Reason gains by gift.
character traits of theories and systems and the doctrine of the mean
-> This does not give us precise details or solutions
-> But Maritain is certainly right that part of our evaluation of theories/systems is very tied up in this (note especially his vices of excess and efect for moral theories -- degrading human nature, deifying human nature)
-> assessments of simplicity and the like are closely connected.
Philosophy itself is structured analogically: metaphysics, logic, politics, aesthetics, etc., are distinct, not merely reducible to each other, but nonetheless related and ordered to each other.
To fulfill its required roles, government must have both dignity and efficacy.
faith & hope as ways of loosening the grip of death
Knowing the impossibility of an end entails knowing the impossibility of means to it.
Knowing the possibility of an end entails knowing the possibility of some means to it.
the saints as emblems of faith, as signs of hope, as partners in charity
the family resemblances of the churches of Christendom
sacrifices as preludial sacraments
sacraments as fora for theological virtues
the social interweaving of virtuous acts
