Single Idea 16045

[catalogued under 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / c. Significance of supervenience]

Full Idea

Russell noted that you cannot arrive at general facts by inference from numerous particular facts, ..but general facts logically supervene on particular ones. So the general facts supervene, but are not entailed.

Gist of Idea

General facts supervene on particular facts, but cannot be inferred from them

Source

report of Bertrand Russell (On Relations of Universals and Particulars [1911]) by Karen Bennett - Supervenience §3.2

Book Reference

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.8


A Reaction

The belief that the general facts supervene on the particular ones then seems to be more a matter of faith than of fact. Or maybe it is analytic, depending on what we understand by 'general'. Universal, or generalised?

Related Idea

Idea 16044 Some entailments do not involve supervenience, as when brotherhood entails siblinghood [Bennett,K]