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Single Idea 12227

[filed under theme 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 Ref

'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.


The 10 ideas from 'The Metaontology of Abstraction'

It is a fallacy to explain the obscure with the even more obscure [Hale/Wright]
Are neo-Fregeans 'maximalists' - that everything which can exist does exist? [Hale/Wright]
Neo-Fregeanism might be better with truth-makers, rather than quantifier commitment [Hale/Wright]
The identity of Pegasus with Pegasus may be true, despite the non-existence [Hale/Wright]
Abstractionism needs existential commitment and uniform truth-conditions [Hale/Wright]
Equivalence abstraction refers to objects otherwise beyond our grasp [Hale/Wright]
Reference needs truth as well as sense [Hale/Wright]
Singular terms refer if they make certain atomic statements true [Hale/Wright]
Maybe we have abundant properties for semantics, and sparse properties for ontology [Hale/Wright]
A successful predicate guarantees the existence of a property - the way of being it expresses [Hale/Wright]