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Full Idea
Identification rests upon organization into entities and kinds. The response to the question 'Same or not the same?' must always be 'Same what?'. ...Identity or constancy in a world is identity with respect to what is within that world as organised.
Gist of Idea
Things can only be judged the 'same' by citing some respect of sameness
Source
Nelson Goodman (Ways of Worldmaking [1978], 1.4a)
Book Ref
Goodman,Nelson: 'Ways of Worldmaking' [Hackett 1984], p.8
A Reaction
And the gist of his book is that 'organised' is done by us, not by the world. He seems to be committed to the full Geachean relative identity, rather than the mere Wigginsian relative individuation. An unfashionable view!
| 17650 | We lack frames of reference to transform physics, biology and psychology into one another [Goodman] |
| 17649 | If the world is one it has many aspects, and if there are many worlds they will collect into one [Goodman] |
| 17651 | Without words or other symbols, we have no world [Goodman] |
| 17654 | A world can be full of variety or not, depending on how we sort it [Goodman] |
| 17653 | Things can only be judged the 'same' by citing some respect of sameness [Goodman] |
| 17655 | Grue and green won't be in the same world, as that would block induction entirely [Goodman] |
| 17656 | Being primitive or prior always depends on a constructional system [Goodman] |
| 17657 | We build our world, and ignore anything that won't fit [Goodman] |
| 17658 | Users of digital thermometers recognise no temperatures in the gaps [Goodman] |
| 17652 | Truth is irrelevant if no statements are involved [Goodman] |
| 17659 | Reality is largely a matter of habit [Goodman] |
| 17660 | Discovery is often just finding a fit, like a jigsaw puzzle [Goodman] |
| 17661 | We don't recognise patterns - we invent them [Goodman] |