Single Idea 16219

[catalogued under 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 10. Vagueness / b. Vagueness of reality]

Full Idea

Non-linguistic objects, properties, and states of affairs cannot be indeterminate because they cannot have determinate truth-values either. No cloud is indeterminate, just as no cloud is either determinately true or determinately false.

Gist of Idea

Non-linguistic things cannot be indeterminate, because they don't have truth-values at all

Source

Katherine Hawley (How Things Persist [2001], 4.1)

Book Reference

Hawley,Katherine: 'How Things Persist' [OUP 2004], p.102


A Reaction

If vagueness must be linguistic, this means animals can never experience it, which I doubt. Presumably 'this is a cloud' is only made vague by the vagueness of the object, rather than by the vagueness of the sentence?