Frederick Charles Copleston > Quotes

“Everyone who doubts knows that he is doubting, so that he is certain of this truth at least, namely the fact that he doubts. Thus every one who doubts whether there is such a thing as truth, knows at least one truth, so that his very capacity to doubt should convince him that there is such a thing as truth.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston

“[O]ther thinkers have philosophised since the time of Plato, but that does not destroy the interest and beauty of his philosophy”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Greece and Rome, From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus

“Plato's proposals in this matter are abhorrent to all true Christians. His intentions were, of course, excellent, for he desired the greatest possible improvement of the human race; but his good intentions led him to the proposal of measures which are necessarily unacceptable and repugnant to all those who adhere to Christian principles concerning the value of the human personality and the sanctity of human life. Moreover, it by no means follows that what has been found successful in the breeding of animals, will also prove successful when applied to the human race, for man has a rational soul which is not intrinsically dependent on matter but is directly created by Almighty God. Does a beautiful soul always go with a beautiful body or a good character with a strong body? Again, if such measures were successful — and what does "successful" mean in this connection? — in the case of the human race, it does not follow that the Government has the right to apply such measures. Those who to-day follow, or would like to follow, in the footsteps of Plato, advocating, e.g. compulsory sterilisation of the unfit, have not, be it remembered, Plato's excuse, that he lied at a period anterior to the presentation of the Christian ideals and principles. — 230”
― Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Vol 1.1 Greece and Rome

“Thus he (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) speaks of compassion as a 'natural feeling which, my moderating the violence of love of self in each individual, contributes to the preservation of the whole species.' And he goes on to add that in the hypothetical state of nature compassion supplies the place of laws, morals and virtues. But though we can distinguish between self-love and compassion, the latter is really a derivative of the former. We are told in Emile that 'the child's first sentiment is self-love (and that) his second, which is derived from it, is love of those about him.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston

“Man, so puny in the quantitative order, is yet too great to be fully satisfied with anything less than the Infinite Good. Discontent with finite goods, ennui, boredom and weariness, disillusionment, represent, as it were, the constant invitation of God, whereby He would lead men to realize their true vocation and to seek complete happiness in Him. He has called us ut filii Dei nominemur et simus, and the Father does not will that His children should mistake the passing for the abiding, the partial for the complete, the wayside hut for the home. 'Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts can find no rest, until they rest in Thee.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism

“Thus he (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) speaks of compassion as a 'natural feeling which, by moderating the violence of love of self in each individual, contributes to the preservation of the whole species.' And he goes on to add that in the hypothetical state of nature compassion supplies the place of laws, morals and virtues. But though we can distinguish between self-love and compassion, the latter is really a derivative of the former. We are told in Emile that 'the child's first sentiment is self-love (and that) his second, which is derived from it, is love of those about him'.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston

“The chief source of the serious evils which affect men is man himself: homo homini lupus. Whoever keeps this last fact clearly in view beholds the world as a hell, which surpasses that of Dante in this respect, that one man must be the devil of another. Apart from the arch-fiends, who appear in the guise of conquerors and set thousands of men to shoot each other, this fact appears in the general injustice, unfairness, hardness and even cruelty displayed in the conduct of men, one towards the other. How man deals with man is shown, for example, by negro slavery, the final end of which is sugar and coffee. The mechanical and monotonous labor in factories, which is the lot of millions, is another example. It is shown most distinctly when a mob of men is set free from all law and order, upon which follows the bellum omnium contra omnes, which Hobbes has so admirably described. Upon this depends the necessity of the State and legislation, and upon none of your false pretences. In other words, the State exists simply to keep human egoism, man's predatory instincts, within reasonable bounds: it has no ethical or educative end. It is directed against the unbridled egoism of one man or a few men; but it is not directed against egoism as such; on the contrary, it has sprung from egoism and exists only in its service, it is instituted on the supposition that pure morality is not to be expected.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism

“In his opinion (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) the most equitable system of taxation, and consequently the one best suited to a society of free men, would be a capitation tax in proportion to the amount of property which a man possesses over and above the necessities of life. Those who possess only the latter should pay nothing at all. As for the other citizens, the tax should be levied, not in simple ratio to the property of the taxed, but in compound ratio to the difference of their conditions and the superfluity of their possessions. It is perfectly just that the more wealthy a man is, the more he should pay in taxation. For one thing, the rich derive great advantages from the social contract. Society protects their possessions and opens to them easy access to lucrative positions of eminence and power. They enjoy many advantages which the poor fail to enjoy. Hence, as the richer a man is, the more he gets out of the State, so to speak, he should be taxed in proportion to his wealth. There should also be heavy taxes on all luxuries. For then either the rich will substitute socially useful for socially useless expenses or the State will receive high taxes. In either case the State will gain......and it is significant that he speaks of these proposals as tending insensibly 'to bring all fortunes nearer to that middle condition which constitutes the genuine strength of the State.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston

“Now, the world, according to Schopenhauer, is phenomenon, is 'my idea', consists of my ideas of perception. On the other hand my intellect is a function of my brain, and my brain is a part of my body, the whole of which is objectified will. But objectified or manifested will is phenomenon; therefore I also am phenomenon. The world is accordingly both phenomenon of the will and also object for me, who am a phenomenon, and I am phenomenon of the will and also subject for the world. The total complex of subject-object is, then, phenomenal, the Will manifesting itself or objectifying itself in both subject and object, the plurality of subject and object being the 'outside' of the world, the noumenal unity of Will being the 'inside' of the world. If this be so, all my ideas, all my thoughts, are phenomenal; they are objects for 'me', i.e. the pure knower, just as much as the objects of the external world are objects for me. In this case not merely is the subject-object distinction phenomenal, but my assertion, my knowledge, my thought of the subject-object distinction is also phenomenal, it is my idea. More than that, the distinction I make between phenomenon and noumenon, between the subject-object distinction on the one hand and the metaphysical unity of Will, the 'inside' of the world, on the other hand is also phenomenal. (In fact, the whole philosophy of Schopenhauer is phenomenal!) But if phenomenal means illusionary, as it clearly does in Schopenhauer's doctrine concerning the external world as contained in the last book of the World, then any distinctions I draw, any thoughts I think, any philosophy I formulate, are also illusionary. In brief, La vida es sueño. In this way, the philosophy of Schopenhauer, in the opinion of the present writer, negates itself.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism

“But I am self-conscious, I can make myself an object of my knowledge: am I, then, my own idea? In so far as I really can turn myself into an object of self-reflection, know myself, I exist for my consciousness and am my own idea: but that is only one side of the matter, since to the self as known, as object of consciousness , there must correspond a self as knower, as subject. I reflect on myself: the 'myself' is object, the 'I' is subject. I then reflect on the 'I' : very well, the 'I' becomes object and 'another I', an I further back, as it were, becomes subject. In other words, there is always presupposed an I that is subject and subject only, that can never be object. It can never be apprehended or grasped in the sense of becoming object: but it is necessarily presupposed: it transcends the I as appearing to consciousness, as phenomenon. Consciousness, therefore, means the subject-object relation, and neither can the object be resolved into the subject (Fichte) or the subject into object (Schelling). The whole world (including e.g. my body) is object of my consciousness, is my idea; but the I does not exist without the object.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism

“Lessing declared that, if God offered him the pursuit of truth with one hand and the final attainment of truth with the other, he would choose the former.”
― Frederick Charles Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism