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Single Idea 17653
[filed under theme 9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 3. Relative Identity
]
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!
The
30 ideas
from Nelson Goodman
18749
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Goodman argued that the confirmation relation can never be formalised
[Goodman, by Horsten/Pettigrew]
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17646
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Goodman showed that every sound inductive argument has an unsound one of the same form
[Goodman, by Putnam]
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14292
|
Dispositions seem more ethereal than behaviour; a non-occult account of them would be nice
[Goodman]
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4794
|
We don't use laws to make predictions, we call things laws if we make predictions with them
[Goodman]
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12394
|
If the result is bad, we change the rule; if we like the rule, we reject the result
[Goodman]
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8113
|
Art is like understanding a natural language, and needs a grasp of a symbol system
[Goodman, by Gardner]
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20439
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Artistic symbols are judged by the fruitfulness of their classifications
[Goodman, by Giovannelli]
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20438
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A performance is only an instance of a work if there is not a single error
[Goodman]
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20437
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A copy only becomes an 'instance' of an artwork if there is a system of notation
[Goodman]
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20440
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Art is a referential activity, hence indefinable, but it has a set of symptoms
[Goodman]
|
12191
|
Counterfactuals are true if logical or natural laws imply the consequence
[Goodman, by McFetridge]
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7956
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If all and only red things were round things, we would need to specify the 'respect' of the resemblance
[Goodman, by Macdonald,C]
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7957
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Without respects of resemblance, we would collect blue book, blue pen, red pen, red clock together
[Goodman, by Macdonald,C]
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9920
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Two objects can apparently make up quite distinct arrangements in sets
[Goodman, by Burgess/Rosen]
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7952
|
If we apply the same word to different things, it is only because we are willing to do so
[Goodman, by Macdonald,C]
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15510
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Classes are a host of ethereal, platonic, pseudo entities
[Goodman]
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10657
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The counties of Utah, and the state, and its acres, are in no way different
[Goodman]
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17649
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If the world is one it has many aspects, and if there are many worlds they will collect into one
[Goodman]
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17650
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We lack frames of reference to transform physics, biology and psychology into one another
[Goodman]
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17651
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Without words or other symbols, we have no world
[Goodman]
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17654
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A world can be full of variety or not, depending on how we sort it
[Goodman]
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17653
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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
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Being primitive or prior always depends on a constructional system
[Goodman]
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17657
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We build our world, and ignore anything that won't fit
[Goodman]
|
17658
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Users of digital thermometers recognise no temperatures in the gaps
[Goodman]
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17652
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Truth is irrelevant if no statements are involved
[Goodman]
|
17659
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Reality is largely a matter of habit
[Goodman]
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17661
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We don't recognise patterns - we invent them
[Goodman]
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17660
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Discovery is often just finding a fit, like a jigsaw puzzle
[Goodman]
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