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Single Idea 12793
[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 8. Stuff / a. Pure stuff
]
Full Idea
With their 'mass-noun' ontologies, the early pre-Socratics were blind to plurality ...but the count-noun ontologists came to dominate the field forever after.
Gist of Idea
Early pre-Socratics had a mass-noun ontology, which was replaced by count-nouns
Source
José A. Benardete (Metaphysics: the logical approach [1989], Ch. 6)
Book Ref
Benardete,José A.: 'Metaphysics: The Logical Approach' [OUP 1989], p.36
A Reaction
The mass-nouns are such things as earth, air, fire and water. This is a very interesting historical observation (cited by Laycock). Our obsession with identity seems tied to formal logic. There is a whole other worldview waiting out there.
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[general masses which are fairly homogeneous]:
16771
|
A composite is a true unity if all of its parts fall under one essence
[Scheibler]
|
6472
|
Continuity is a sufficient criterion for the identity of a rock, but not for part of a smooth fluid
[Russell]
|
16939
|
Mass terms just concern spread, but other terms involve both spread and individuation
[Quine]
|
15319
|
Hard individual blocks don't fix what 'things' are; fluids are no less material things
[Harré/Madden]
|
15501
|
We have no idea of a third sort of thing, that isn't an individual, a class, or their mixture
[Lewis]
|
15504
|
Atomless gunk is an individual whose parts all have further proper parts
[Lewis]
|
17578
|
I reject talk of 'stuff', and treat it in terms of particles
[Inwagen]
|
12793
|
Early pre-Socratics had a mass-noun ontology, which was replaced by count-nouns
[Benardete,JA]
|
13386
|
If objects are just conventional, there is no ontological distinction between stuff and things
[Jubien]
|
13488
|
Mass words do not have plurals, or numerical adjectives, or use 'fewer'
[Hart,WD]
|
15014
|
Unlike things, stuff obeys unrestricted composition and mereological essentialism
[Sider]
|
12847
|
Mass nouns admit 'much' and 'a little', and resist 'many' and 'few'.
[Simons]
|
12863
|
Mass terms (unlike plurals) are used with indifference to whether they can exist in units
[Simons]
|
12862
|
Gold is not its atoms, because the atoms must be all gold, but gold contains neutrons
[Simons]
|
12792
|
The category of stuff does not suit reference
[Laycock]
|
12799
|
Descriptions of stuff are neither singular aggregates nor plural collections
[Laycock]
|
17436
|
We talk of snow as what stays the same, when it is a heap or drift or expanse
[Koslicki]
|