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Single Idea 14300

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 7. Against Powers ]

Full Idea

The old error treating the term 'Force' as denoting an occult force-exerting agency has been given up in the physical sciences.

Gist of Idea

No physical scientist now believes in an occult force-exerting agency

Source

Gilbert Ryle (The Concept of Mind [1949], V (1))

Book Ref

Ryle,Gilbert: 'The Concept of Mind' [Penguin 1949], p.113

A Reaction

Since 1949 they seem to have made a revival, once they are divested of their religious connotations. The word 'agency' is the misleading bit. Even Leibniz's monads weren't actual agents - he always said that was 'an analogy'.

The 26 ideas from Gilbert Ryle

13989 There are no propositions; they are just sentences, used for thinking, which link to facts in a certain way [Ryle]
13977 When I utter a sentence, listeners grasp both my meaning and my state of mind [Ryle]
13976 'Propositions' name what is thought, because 'thoughts' and 'judgments' are too ambiguous [Ryle]
13981 Several people can believe one thing, or make the same mistake, or share one delusion [Ryle]
13980 If you like judgments and reject propositions, what are the relata of incoherence in a judgment? [Ryle]
13978 Husserl and Meinong wanted objective Meanings and Propositions, as subject-matter for Logic [Ryle]
13979 Logic studies consequence, compatibility, contradiction, corroboration, necessitation, grounding.... [Ryle]
13985 A true proposition seems true of one fact, but a false proposition seems true of nothing at all. [Ryle]
13984 Two maps might correspond to one another, but they are only 'true' of the country they show [Ryle]
13983 Representation assumes you know the ideas, and the reality, and the relation between the two [Ryle]
13982 If we accept true propositions, it is hard to reject false ones, and even nonsensical ones [Ryle]
13987 We may think in French, but we don't know or believe in French [Ryle]
13988 Many sentences do not state facts, but there are no facts which could not be stated [Ryle]
18004 We can't do philosophy without knowledge of types and categories [Ryle]
2388 Behaviour depends on desires as well as beliefs [Chalmers on Ryle]
3354 You can't explain mind as dispositions, if they aren't real [Benardete,JA on Ryle]
2387 How can behaviour be the cause of behaviour? [Chalmers on Ryle]
18005 Philosophy aims to become more disciplined about categories [Ryle]
1353 Reporting on myself has the same problems as reporting on you [Ryle]
1354 We cannot introspect states of anger or panic [Ryle]
2620 Dualism is a category mistake [Ryle]
2622 Can one movement have a mental and physical cause? [Ryle]
14297 A dispositional property is not a state, but a liability to be in some state, given a condition [Ryle]
14300 No physical scientist now believes in an occult force-exerting agency [Ryle]
2624 I cannot prepare myself for the next thought I am going to think [Ryle]
10800 The values of variables can't determine existence, because they are just expressions [Ryle, by Quine]