As I have been working on the philosophy-themed card deck (see a post on the art here), I have struggled to determine the exact content of the card faces. Besides the art, the name of the philosopher, and the reversible suit and value in opposite corners what should be included (if anything)? Some possibilities are as follows:
(1) Birth and death dates to help contextualize the philosopher in history.
(2) Quotes. I thought it could be fun to include a quote from each philosophy that either typifies one of their philosophical ideas or says something funny. The difficulty with the former is that it is hard to gain a direct quote from some of the pre-socratics. Of course, I can borrow from later sources, but it isn't the same, and there is some questions of authenticity. Oh well, it isn't a breaker. I also am concerned about sharing an obscure quote that may seem to ridicule the philosopher as being nonsensical, even if it is somewhat fun to do so. The problem with the latter is that I don't want to be suggesting that they do not have anything interesting to contribute, especially if the joke is not philosophically related. I have thought that perhaps if I choose a funny quote that I should try to pick a short one and then have a more serious line included with it. Perhaps some examples will be helpful.
Picturesque quotes: "The condition of man...is a condition of war of everyone against everyone." - Thomas Hobbes
"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates
"There is no inner man, man is in the world, and only in the world does he know himself." - Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Quotes that could ridicule the philosopher: "The nothing itself nothings." - Martin Heidegger
"Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is." - Jean Paul Sartre
"Until philosophers are kings... cities [and the human race] will never have rest from their evils and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day." - Plato
Funny quote (not philosophically related): "A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love." - Friedrich Nietzsche
"Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine." - Thomas Aquinas
"Give me chastity and continence, but not yet." - Augustine of Hippo
"If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.” - Alfred North Whitehead
Funny quote (somewhat philosophically related): "If I became a philosopher… it's all been to seduce women basically." - Jean Paul Sartre
"I know my fate. One day my name will be associated with the memory of something tremendous... I am no man, I am dynamite." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Any suggestions on how to do quotes (if you think they should be done)? Should quotes not be done?
(3) Notable ideas and contributions. Instead of quoting a philosopher, I could give a short list of their notable ideas. This is somewhat difficult for philosophers that did not have as many novel ideas or for whom we know little about (little of their work has survived), but not all philosophers are equal. Here would be some ideas:
Peter Abelard: truth-functional propositional logic, intentionalistic deontology, moral luck, moral theory of atonement, nominalism, direct reference, adverbial theory of thought, supervenience of form on matter.
Jacques Derrida: deconstruction, post-structuralism, Différance, metaphysics of presence.
Euclid: Euclidian axiomatic geometry, number theory, optical perspective.
David Hume: reason as slave to passions, Hume's Fork, sentimental basis of morals (moral sense), constant conjunction, impossibility of miracles, association of ideas, bundle theory of the self, compatibilism.
Saul Kripke: Modality and modal logic, deontic logic, rigid designators, necessary a posteriori, admissible ordinals, Strong Kleene valuation scheme.
Is this a good alternative to the quotes? Is it better or worse?
I know that I should make sure the cards are not too busy, but it seems useful to have more than just the names and pictures of the philosophers. Any other suggestions for content?
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