Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Richard L. Kirkham and Robin Le Poidevin

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2 ideas

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / d. Non-being
A thing which makes no difference seems unlikely to exist [Le Poidevin]
     Full Idea: It is a powerful argument for something's non-existence that it would make absolutely no difference.
     From: Robin Le Poidevin (Travels in Four Dimensions [2003], 02 'Everything')
     A reaction: Powerful, but not conclusive. Neutrinos don't seem to do much, so it isn't far from there to get a particle which does nothing.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 8. Facts / b. Types of fact
Why can there not be disjunctive, conditional and negative facts? [Kirkham]
     Full Idea: It has been said that there are no disjunctive facts, conditional facts, or negative facts. ...but it is not at all clear why there cannot be facts of this sort.
     From: Richard L. Kirkham (Theories of Truth: a Critical Introduction [1992], 5.6)
     A reaction: I love these sorts of facts, and offer them as a naturalistic basis for logic. You probably need the world to have modal features, but I have those in the form of powers and dispositions.