Combining Philosophers

Ideas for B Hale / C Wright, Giuseppe Peano and Ross P. Cameron

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these philosophers

display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers


5 ideas

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 3. Types of Properties
Maybe we have abundant properties for semantics, and sparse properties for ontology [Hale/Wright]
     Full Idea: There is a compatibilist view which says that it is for the abundant properties to play the role of 'bedeutungen' in semantic theory, and the sparse ones to address certain metaphysical concerns.
     From: B Hale / C Wright (The Metaontology of Abstraction [2009], §9)
     A reaction: Only a philosopher could live with the word 'property' having utterly different extensions in different areas of discourse. They similarly bifurcate words like 'object' and 'exist'. Call properties 'quasi-properties' and I might join in.
Being polka-dotted is a 'spatial distribution' property [Cameron]
     Full Idea: Spatial distribution properties say how things are across a region of space, such as being polka-dotted.
     From: Ross P. Cameron (Truthmaking for Presentists [2011], 3)
     A reaction: I think the routine fallacy of inferring properties from predicates is buried here. We truthfully describe it as 'polka-dotted', but that doesn't mean we must reify polka-dottedness, and see it as a feature of the world. What is a 'jumbled' space?
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 4. Intrinsic Properties
Essentialists say intrinsic properties arise from what the thing is, irrespective of surroundings [Cameron]
     Full Idea: The essentialist approach would be to say that an intrinsic property is one such that it is no part of what it is to instantiate that property that the bearer stands in some relation to its surroundings.
     From: Ross P. Cameron (Intrinsic and Extrinsic Properties [2009], 'Analysis')
     A reaction: This is offered as an alternative to the David Lewis account in terms of duplicates across possible worlds. You will have gathered by now, if you have spent days poring over my stuff, that I favour the essentialist approach.
An object's intrinsic properties are had in virtue of how it is, independently [Cameron]
     Full Idea: Intrinsic properties are those that an object has solely in virtue of how it is, independently of its surroundings.
     From: Ross P. Cameron (Intrinsic and Extrinsic Properties [2009], 'Intro')
     A reaction: Better not mention quantum mechanics and fields if you want to talk of objects being independent of their surroundings. Am I 'independent' of gravity, or is gravity 'independent' of me?
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 10. Properties as Predicates
A successful predicate guarantees the existence of a property - the way of being it expresses [Hale/Wright]
     Full Idea: The good standing of a predicate is already trivially sufficient to ensure the existence of an associated property, a (perhaps complex) way of being which the predicate serves to express.
     From: B Hale / C Wright (The Metaontology of Abstraction [2009], §9)
     A reaction: 'Way of being' is interesting. Is 'being near Trafalgar Sq' a way of being? I take properties to be 'features', which seems to give a clearer way of demarcating them. They say they are talking about 'abundant' (rather than 'sparse') properties.