How Far Can We Know the Truth? In Plato’s Meno, an argument is raised that there is no such thing as a “truth seeker”, because if a man knows the truth already, there is no need to seek, and if he doesn’t, he can’t seek, since he wouldn’t recognize it even if he stumbles upon it. Socrates’ solution to Meno’s paradox is Recollection, i.e., the soul, which is immortal, already […]
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“On Interpretation” by Aristotle
Propositions “Truth and falsity imply combination (copulation) and separation.” The denial must deny just that which the affirmation affirms concerning the same subject, and must correspond with the affirmation both in the universal or particular character of the subject and in the distributed or undistributed sense in which the proposition is understood. If anything else be negatively predicated of the subject or if anything else be the subject though the […]
Read more“Republic” by Plato
One of the best books I’ve ever read. I wish I had read it twenty years ago, but perhaps I would not have appreciated it as much. Although this is one of the most influential books in history, I put off reading it because of a lack of interest in political science. Ironically, another influential book on the subject, “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli, drove me to this, to seek […]
Read more“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy
It took me at least three attempts and more than a year’s time to finish “War and Peace”, and I’m certainly glad that I finally did. A True of Work of Art Like a good farmer who sows the seeds, cultivates, waters, and patiently waits for the crops to mature, Tolstoy lets his characters develop slowly, giving vivid descriptions of their external and internal lives as they unfold. “War and […]
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