Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Stephen Mumford, Noam Chomsky and Laozi (Lao Tzu)

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2 ideas

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 1. On Reason

9429	Many forms of reasoning, such as extrapolation and analogy, are useful but deductively invalid [Mumford]
	Full Idea: There are many forms of reasoning - extrapolation, interpolation, and other arguments from analogy - that are useful but deductively invalid.
	From: Stephen Mumford (Laws in Nature [2004], 04.4)
	A reaction: [He cites Molnar for this]

2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 8. Category Mistake / c. Category mistake as semantic

18009	Chomsky established the view that category mistakes are well-formed but meaningless [Chomsky, by Magidor]
	Full Idea: The view of Chomsky in 1957 that category mistakes are syntactically well-formed but meaningless is a very standard one.
	From: report of Noam Chomsky (Syntactic Structure [1957]) by Ofra Magidor - Category Mistakes 1.3
	A reaction: I'm going off the idea that they are meaningless, largely because I am beginning to sympathise with the view that any composition of meaningful components is meaningful (even if blatantly false).