Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Churchland / Churchland, Anon (Tor) and Robert C. Stalnaker

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2 ideas

9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 7. Substratum
For the bare particular view, properties must be features, not just groups of objects [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: If we are to make sense of the bare particular theory, a property must be not just a rule for grouping individuals, but a feature of individuals in virtue of which they may be grouped.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Anti-essentialism [1979], p.76)
     A reaction: He is offering an objection to the thoroughly extensional account of properties that is found in standard possible worlds semantics. Quite right too. We can't give up on the common sense notion of a property.
Possible worlds allow separating all the properties, without hitting a bare particular [Stalnaker]
     Full Idea: The possible worlds framework suggests a way to express the idea that a particular is conceptually separable from its properties without relying on the rejected picture of a bare particular.
     From: Robert C. Stalnaker (Reference and Necessity [1997], 5)
     A reaction: As I read him, Stalnaker's proposal just comes down to replacing each property in turn with a different one. 'Strip away' red by making it green. It being green in w1 doesn't throw extra light. Can it be a bare particular in w37?