Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Michael della Rocca, Peter Abelard and Mark Sainsbury

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20 ideas

4. Formal Logic / G. Formal Mereology / 1. Mereology
10397 Abelard's mereology involves privileged and natural divisions, and principal parts [Abelard, by King,P]
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / e. Empty names
10429 It is best to say that a name designates iff there is something for it to designate [Sainsbury]
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 2. Descriptions / b. Definite descriptions
10425 Definite descriptions may not be referring expressions, since they can fail to refer [Sainsbury]
10438 Definite descriptions are usually rigid in subject, but not in predicate, position [Sainsbury]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 10. Vagueness / b. Vagueness of reality
8983 If 'red' is vague, then membership of the set of red things is vague, so there is no set of red things [Sainsbury]
7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
8986 We should abandon classifying by pigeon-holes, and classify around paradigms [Sainsbury]
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / b. Nominalism about universals
10395 Abelard was an irrealist about virtually everything apart from concrete individuals [Abelard, by King,P]
10396 If 'animal' is wholly present in Socrates and an ass, then 'animal' is rational and irrational [Abelard, by King,P]
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 3. Predicate Nominalism
15384 Only words can be 'predicated of many'; the universality is just in its mode of signifying [Abelard, by Panaccio]
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / e. Vague objects
8982 Vague concepts are concepts without boundaries [Sainsbury]
8984 If concepts are vague, people avoid boundaries, can't spot them, and don't want them [Sainsbury]
8985 Boundaryless concepts tend to come in pairs, such as child/adult, hot/cold [Sainsbury]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / a. Essence as necessary properties
14380 The distinction between necessary and essential properties can be ignored [Rocca]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 4. De re / De dicto modality
8481 The de dicto-de re modality distinction dates back to Abelard [Abelard, by Orenstein]
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 8. Abstractionism Critique
15385 Abelard's problem is the purely singular aspects of things won't account for abstraction [Panaccio on Abelard]
19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / b. Causal reference
10432 A new usage of a name could arise from a mistaken baptism of nothing [Sainsbury]
19. Language / B. Reference / 5. Speaker's Reference
10434 Even a quantifier like 'someone' can be used referentially [Sainsbury]
19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 3. Predicates
15383 Nothing external can truly be predicated of an object [Abelard, by Panaccio]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 3. Natural Function
10431 Things are thought to have a function, even when they can't perform them [Sainsbury]
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 7. Critique of Kinds
10398 Natural kinds are not special; they are just well-defined resemblance collections [Abelard, by King,P]