Yet, after Rousseau had given the social contract a new twist with his notion of the General Will, the same philosophy, it may be said, became the idea source of the French Revolution also.

An idea, let us say, may be roughly defined as a theme or topic with which our reflection may be concerned.

Thus the student of literature may sometimes find it helpful to classify a poem or an essay as being in idea or in ideal content or subject matter typical or atypical of its period.

Again, he may discover embodied within its texture a theme or idea that has been presented elsewhere and at other times in various ways.

Finally we may note that the idea appears in educational theory where its influence is at present widespread.

The senior policy officer may be moved to think hard about a problem by any of an infinite variety of stimuli: an idea in his own head, the suggestions of a colleague, a question from the Secretary or the President, a proposal by another department, a communication from a foreign government or an American ambassador abroad, the filing of an item for the agenda of the United Nations or of any other of dozens of international bodies, a news item read at the breakfast table, a question to the President or the Secretary at a news conference, a speech by a Senator or Congressman, an article in a periodical, a resolution from a national organization, a request for assistance from some private American interests abroad, et cetera, ad infinitum.

When we see the steady and methodical inculcation into humanity of the idea of man's worthlessness -- until redeemed -- the necessity of the Devil may become evident as a weapon, a weapon designed and used time and time again in every age to whip men into a surrender to a particular church or church-state ''.

but why did the Old Chinese postulate five elements, when the Ancient Near East -- which may have initiated the idea that natural elements exerted influence in human life and activities -- recognized only four??

This seems to pose a serious problem for the empirical account, though Hume brushes it aside as an exceptional case by stating that one may experience a novel idea that itself is derived from combinations of previous impressions.

Unlike his predecessors, Berkeley and Locke, Hume rejects the idea that volitions or impulses of the will may be inferred to necessarily connect to the actions they produce by way of some sense of the power of the will.

Conversely, Howard Marshall writes that the speeches were not entirely the inventions of the author and, while they may not be verbatim, nevertheless records the general idea.

Idealists are skeptics about the physical world, maintaining either: 1 ) that nothing exists outside the mind, or 2 ) that we would have no access to a mind-independent reality even if it may exist ; the latter case often takes the form of a denial of the idea that we can have unconceptualised experiences ( see Myth of the Given ).

Some authors have speculated that Ælle may have led the Saxon forces at this battle, while others reject the idea out of hand.

The earliest reference to the idea of non-violence to animals ( pashu-ahimsa ), apparently in a moral sense, is in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda ( KapS 31. 11 ), which may have been written in about the 8th century BCE.

The idea that a curve may come arbitrarily close to a line without actually becoming the same may seem counter to everyday experience.

Psychologists believe that the search for meaning is common in conspiracism and the development of conspiracy theories, and may be powerful enough alone to lead to the first formulating of the idea.

For one thing, if verbal reports are treated as observations, akin to observations in other branches of science, then the possibility arises that they may contain errors — but it is difficult to make sense of the idea that subjects could be wrong about their own experiences, and even more difficult to see how such an error could be detected.

Another complementary view is that this idea may have been used by ministers and counselors to deter aristocratic whims that would otherwise be to the detriment of the state's people.

I don't care what his position is, if he writes something or speaks something that goes beyond anything that you can find in the standard works, unless that one be the prophet, seer, and revelator — please note that one exception — you may immediately say, " Well, that is his own idea!

The idea of Satan as God's opponent may have developed under the influence of the combat myth.

Christians who agree with these views may refer to this idea as abortion before the quickening of the fetus.

Prior for it seems quite probable that the shape of the flowers suggested the idea of a glove, and that associated with the name of the botanist Fuchs, who first gave it a botanical name, may have been easily corrupted into foxglove.

However, for convenience we will stick to the idea that information can be classified according to Table 1.

Seemingly, with an unrestricted flow of ideas, all will be well, and we are even assured that `` an idea a day will keep the sheriff away ''.

At this point a working definition of idea is in order, although our first definition will have to be qualified somewhat as we proceed.

Apparently still sensitive about the idea with which General Gates had approached him at Saratoga, namely, that George Washington be replaced, Morgan was vehement in his support of the commander-in-chief during the campaign around Philadelphia.

And to do this requires first of all the kind of information about people which is provided by the scientists in industrial anthropology and consumer research, who, for example, tell Courtenay that three days is the `` optimum priming period for a closed social circuit to be triggered with a catalytic cue-phrase '' -- which means that an effective propaganda technique is to send an idea into circulation and then three days later reinforce or undermine it.

But if anything can bring home to Mr. Khrushchev the idea that he will not really get much enjoyment from watching this Braddock-against-the-Indians contest, it will probably be the fact that SEATO forces are ready to attempt it -- plus the fact that Moscow has something to lose from closing off disarmament and other bigger negotiations with Washington.

Perhaps the idea of sidewalk cafes could be extended.

Without these massive trucks highways would still be just an idea of the future.

He had no idea where Seward's room would be.

Their names had not come up in any discussions with Laura, and he had no idea what they would be like.

`` What possessed you to tell me a clotheshorse would be a good idea ''??

It would be a mistake to sell those thousands of beginning campers on the idea they're buying the comforts of home.

This whole development is certain to be of interest to the readers, for the idea has so often been mentioned, somewhat wistfully.

I wrote a few years ago that one of the cardinal rules of writing is that the reader should be able to get some idea of what the story is about.

Instructions to relax, i.e., to be `` spontaneous '', and react immediately to whatever impulse they might have, was not sufficiently reassuring until some idea of the possibilities of normal reactions had been given.

If both George and a piece of information George does not have are prominent in the context, but the idea of telling George is new, then dominant stress will probably be on tell in why not tell George??

The great majority of present-day linguists fall into one or more of a number of overlapping types: those who are convinced that tone cannot be analysed, those who are personally scared of tone and tone languages generally, those who are convinced that tone is merely an unnecessary marginal feature in those languages where it occurs, those who have no idea how to proceed with tone analysis, those who take a simplistic view of the whole matter.

The very idea of there being `` count rules '' implies that there is some sort of proportion to be expected between the amount of congestive activity and the extent of the breakaway ( run up or run down ) movement.

Shaw could also give the flyer a pretty good idea of area visibility by a visual check of the mountains to be seen from his station.

I asked a silly question: `` You've no idea where your husband could be, now ''??

This is well evidenced by the Quietist doctrines carried over in Zen: the idea of the inward turning of thought, the enjoinder to put aside desires and perturbations so that a return to purity, peace, and stillness -- a union with the Infinite, with the Tao -- could be effected.