Single Idea 16934

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 7. Seeing Resemblance]

Full Idea

The usual general term, whether a common noun or a verb or an adjective, owes its generality to some resemblance among the things referred to.

Gist of Idea

General terms depend on similarities among things

Source

Willard Quine (Natural Kinds [1969], p.116)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.116


A Reaction

Quine has a nice analysis of the basic role of similarity in a huge amount of supposedly strict scientific thought.