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Single Idea 14934
[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 7. Abstract/Concrete / a. Abstract/concrete
]
Full Idea
The categories of concrete and abstract seem crude and inappropriate for modern physics.
Gist of Idea
Concrete and abstract are too crude for modern physics
Source
J Ladyman / D Ross (Every Thing Must Go [2007], 3.6)
Book Ref
Ladyman,J/Ross,D: 'Every Thing Must Go' [OUP 2007], p.160
A Reaction
They don't persuade me of this idea. At some point physicists need to decide the ontological status of the basic stuffs they are investigating. I'll give them a thousand years, and then I want an answer. Do they only deal in 'ideal' entities?
The
26 ideas
with the same theme
[general ideas about the abstract/concrete border]:
12966
|
Objects of ideas can be divided into abstract and concrete, and then further subdivided
[Leibniz]
|
10539
|
Frege refers to 'concrete' objects, but they are no different in principle from abstract ones
[Frege, by Dummett]
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11093
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We don't say 'red' is abstract, unlike a river, just because it has discontinuous shape
[Quine]
|
1630
|
We can only see an alien language in terms of our own thought structures (e.g. physical/abstract)
[Quine]
|
10540
|
We can't say that light is concrete but radio waves abstract
[Dummett]
|
10515
|
Ostension is possible for concreta; abstracta can only be referred to via other objects
[Dummett, by Hale]
|
10544
|
The concrete/abstract distinction seems crude: in which category is the Mistral?
[Dummett]
|
10546
|
We don't need a sharp concrete/abstract distinction
[Dummett]
|
9884
|
The distinction of concrete/abstract, or actual/non-actual, is a scale, not a dichotomy
[Dummett]
|
10577
|
Concrete objects have few essential properties, but properties of abstractions are mostly essential
[Yablo]
|
10578
|
We are thought to know concreta a posteriori, and many abstracta a priori
[Yablo]
|
9210
|
Possible objects are abstract; actual concrete objects are possible; so abstract/concrete are compatible
[Fine,K]
|
10227
|
The abstract/concrete boundary now seems blurred, and would need a defence
[Shapiro]
|
10226
|
Mathematicians regard arithmetic as concrete, and group theory as abstract
[Shapiro]
|
9918
|
Abstract/concrete is a distinction of kind, not degree
[Burgess/Rosen]
|
9929
|
Much of what science says about concrete entities is 'abstraction-laden'
[Burgess/Rosen]
|
9619
|
David's 'Napoleon' is about something concrete and something abstract
[Brown,JR]
|
10512
|
The abstract/concrete distinction is based on what is perceivable, causal and located
[Hale]
|
10517
|
Colours and points seem to be both concrete and abstract
[Hale]
|
10519
|
The abstract/concrete distinction is in the relations in the identity-criteria of object-names
[Hale]
|
10520
|
Token-letters and token-words are concrete objects, type-letters and type-words abstract
[Hale]
|
8953
|
Abstract entities don't depend on their concrete entities ...but maybe on the totality of concrete things
[Szabó]
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22287
|
If 'concrete' is the negative of 'abstract', that means desires and hallucinations are concrete
[Potter]
|
13744
|
The cosmos is the only fundamental entity, from which all else exists by abstraction
[Schaffer,J]
|
10493
|
If concrete is spatio-temporal and causal, and abstract isn't, the distinction doesn't suit physics
[Ladyman/Ross]
|
14934
|
Concrete and abstract are too crude for modern physics
[Ladyman/Ross]
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