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Full Idea
Objects do not by themselves naturally fall into countable units.
Gist of Idea
Objects do not naturally form countable units
Source
Kathrin Koslicki (Isolation and Non-arbitrary Division [1997], 2.2)
Book Ref
-: 'Synthese' [-], p.416
A Reaction
Hm. This seems to be modern Fregean orthodoxy. Why did the institution of counting ever get started if the things in the world didn't demand counting? Even birds are aware of the number of eggs in their nest (because they miss a stolen one).
17439 | There is no deep reason why we count carrots but not asparagus [Koslicki] |
17434 | We struggle to count branches and waves because our concepts lack clear boundaries [Koslicki] |
17436 | We talk of snow as what stays the same, when it is a heap or drift or expanse [Koslicki] |
17435 | Objects do not naturally form countable units [Koslicki] |
17433 | We can still count squares, even if they overlap [Koslicki] |