Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Cratylus and Roderick Firth

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4 ideas

9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 8. Continuity of Rivers

579	Cratylus said you couldn't even step into the same river once [Cratylus, by Aristotle]
	Full Idea: Cratylus was appalled that Heraclitus said you could not step twice into the same river, because it was already going too far to admit stepping into the same river once.
	From: report of Cratylus (fragments/reports [c.425 BCE]) by Aristotle - Metaphysics 1010a
	A reaction: Compare Idea 427.

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 4. Sense Data / d. Sense-data problems

6493	We are not conscious of pure liquidity, but of the liquidity of water [Firth]
	Full Idea: We are not conscious of liquidity, coldness, and solidity, but of the liquidity of water, the coldness of ice, and the solidity of rocks.
	From: Roderick Firth (Sense Data and the Percept Theory [1949]), quoted by Howard Robinson - Perception 1.7
	A reaction: A nice point, but it might not be entirely true in a blindfold test, where one might only report properties like 'sticky' or 'warm', without having any clear concept of the substance being experienced. Firth is proposing the 'percept theory'.

13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 1. Scepticism

578	Cratylus decided speech was hopeless, and his only expression was the movement of a finger [Cratylus, by Aristotle]
	Full Idea: Cratylus thought speech of any kind was radically inappropriate and that expression should be restricted exclusively to the movement of the finger.
	From: report of Cratylus (fragments/reports [c.425 BCE]) by Aristotle - Metaphysics 1010a

14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction

20653	Six reduction levels: groups, lives, cells, molecules, atoms, particles [Putnam/Oppenheim, by Watson]
	Full Idea: There are six 'reductive levels' in science: social groups, (multicellular) living things, cells, molecules, atoms, and elementary particles.
	From: report of H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim (Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis [1958]) by Peter Watson - Convergence 10 'Intro'
	A reaction: I have the impression that fields are seen as more fundamental that elementary particles. What is the status of the 'laws' that are supposed to govern these things? What is the status of space and time within this picture?