Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Saul A. Kripke and Peter Unger

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3 ideas

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 10. Rule Following
No rule can be fully explained [Kripke]
     Full Idea: Every explanation of a rule could conceivably be misunderstood.
     From: Saul A. Kripke (Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language [1982], 3)
     A reaction: This is Kripke's summary of what he takes to be Wittgenstein's scepticism about rules.
'Quus' means the same as 'plus' if the ingredients are less than 57; otherwise it just produces 5 [Kripke]
     Full Idea: I will define 'quus' by x-quus-y = x + y, if x, y < 57, and otherwise it equals 5. Who is to say that this is not the function I previously meant by '+'?
     From: Saul A. Kripke (Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language [1982], 2)
     A reaction: Kripke's famous example, to illustrate the big new scepticism introduced by Wittgenstein's questions about the rationality of following a rule. I suspect that you have to delve into psychology to understand rule-following, rather than logic.
18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 5. Mental Files
Puzzled Pierre has two mental files about the same object [Recanati on Kripke]
     Full Idea: In Kripke's puzzle about belief, the subject has two distinct mental files about one and the same object.
     From: comment on Saul A. Kripke (A Puzzle about Belief [1979]) by François Recanati - Mental Files 17.1
     A reaction: [Pierre distinguishes 'London' from 'Londres'] The Kripkean puzzle is presented as very deep, but I have always felt there was a simple explanation, and I suspect that this is it (though I will leave the reader to think it through, as I'm very busy…).