Combining Philosophers

Ideas for B Hale / C Wright, James Van Cleve and K Marx / F Engels

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2 ideas

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 6. Physicalism
Philosophical problems are resolved into empirical facts [Marx/Engels]
     Full Idea: Every profound philosophical problem is resolved quite simply into an empirical fact.
     From: K Marx / F Engels (The German Ideology [1846], §1.B)
     A reaction: This shows that empirical accounts of metaphysics are not just a branch of British empiricism, but are a basic fact of any materialist view of the world. The influence of David Hume, however, hovers behind this Marxist doctrine.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / a. Ontological commitment
The identity of Pegasus with Pegasus may be true, despite the non-existence [Hale/Wright]
     Full Idea: Identity is sometimes read so that 'Pegasus is Pegasus' expresses a truth, the non-existence of any winged horse notwithstanding.
     From: B Hale / C Wright (The Metaontology of Abstraction [2009], §5)
     A reaction: This would give you ontological commitment to truth, without commitment to existence. It undercuts the use of identity statements as the basis of existence claims, which was Frege's strategy.