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Single Idea 10931
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / e. Anti scientific essentialism
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Full Idea
To say an object is soluble in water is to say that it would dissolve if it were in water,..which implies that 'necessarily if x is in water then x dissolves'. Yet we do not know if there is a suitable sense of 'necessarily' into which we can so quantify.
Gist of Idea
We can't say 'necessarily if x is in water then x dissolves' if we can't quantify modally
Source
Willard Quine (Reference and Modality [1953], §4)
Book Ref
Quine,Willard: 'From a Logical Point of View' [Harper and Row 1963], p.158
A Reaction
This is why there has been a huge revival of scientific essentialism - because Krike seems to offer exacty the account which Quine said was missing. So can you have modal logic without rigid designation?
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[objections to essences in scientific investigation]:
13296
|
The cosmos has two elements - passive matter, and active cause (or reason) which shapes it
[Stoic school, by Seneca]
|
13150
|
The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent
[Newton]
|
12178
|
That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd
[Newton]
|
6734
|
If properties and qualities arise from an inward essence, we will remain ignorant of nature
[Berkeley]
|
12110
|
We can never know origins, purposes or inner natures
[Comte]
|
10246
|
The limit of science is isomorphism of theories, with essences a matter of indifference
[Weyl]
|
10931
|
We can't say 'necessarily if x is in water then x dissolves' if we can't quantify modally
[Quine]
|
17862
|
Essence gives an illusion of understanding
[Quine, by Almog]
|
12179
|
Essentialist views of science prevent further questions from being raised
[Popper]
|
5492
|
How can essences generate the right powers to vary with distance between objects?
[Armstrong]
|
16547
|
H2O isn't necessary, because different laws of nature might affect how O and H combine
[Lowe]
|
12243
|
The reductionism found in scientific essentialism is mistaken
[Oderberg]
|
4799
|
Dispositional essentialism can't explain its key distinction between essential and non-essential properties
[Psillos]
|
15178
|
Can anything in science reveal the necessity of what it discovers?
[Sidelle]
|
15706
|
A major objection to real essences is the essentialising of social categories like race, caste and occupation
[Gelman]
|
17864
|
Defining an essence comes no where near giving a thing's nature
[Almog]
|
17863
|
Essences promise to reveal reality, but actually drive us away from it
[Almog]
|