Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Archimedes, Keith Hossack and Carrie Jenkins

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3 ideas

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 1. Thought
A thought can refer to many things, but only predicate a universal and affirm a state of affairs [Hossack]
     Full Idea: A thought can refer to a particular or a universal or a state of affairs, but it can predicate only a universal and it can affirm only a state of affairs.
     From: Keith Hossack (Plurals and Complexes [2000], 1)
     A reaction: Hossack is summarising Armstrong's view, which he is accepting. To me, 'thought' must allow for animals, unlike language. I think Hossack's picture is much too clear-cut. Do animals grasp universals? Doubtful. Can they predicate? Yes.
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 2. Origin of Concepts / b. Empirical concepts
The physical effect of world on brain explains the concepts we possess [Jenkins]
     Full Idea: I think the physical effects of the world on the brain explain our possessing the concepts we do.
     From: Carrie Jenkins (Grounding Concepts [2008], 8.2)
     A reaction: A nice slogan for a thought which strikes me as exactly right.
Grounded concepts are trustworthy maps of the world [Jenkins]
     Full Idea: Grounded concepts are like trustworthy on-board maps of the independent world.
     From: Carrie Jenkins (Grounding Concepts [2008], Intro)
     A reaction: You'll probably need more than one concept for it to qualify as a 'map', but I like this idea a lot. The world, rather than we ourselves, creates our concepts. The opposite of the view of Geach in 'Mental Acts'.