Single Idea 12227

[catalogued under 18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 7. Abstracta by Equivalence]

Full Idea

Abstractionism needs a face-value, existentially committed reading of the terms occurring on the left-hand sides together with sameness of truth-conditions across the biconditional.

Gist of Idea

Abstractionism needs existential commitment and uniform truth-conditions

Source

B Hale / C Wright (The Metaontology of Abstraction [2009], §5)

Book Reference

'Metametaphysics', ed/tr. Chalmers/Manley/Wasserman [OUP 2009], p.188


A Reaction

They employ 'abstractionism' to mean their logical Fregean strategy for defining abstractions, not to mean the older psychological account. Thus the truth-conditions for being 'parallel' and for having the 'same direction' must be consistent.