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Single Idea 17661

[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / d. Humean supervenience ]

Full Idea

Recognising patterns is very much a matter of inventing or imposing them.

Gist of Idea

We don't recognise patterns - we invent them

Source

Nelson Goodman (Ways of Worldmaking [1978], 1.7)

Book Ref

Goodman,Nelson: 'Ways of Worldmaking' [Hackett 1984], p.22

A Reaction

I take this to be false.

The 8 ideas with the same theme [everything supervenes on some simple base]:

17661 We don't recognise patterns - we invent them [Goodman]
16210 Humean supervenience says the world is just a vast mosaic of qualities in space-time [Lewis]
16211 A homogeneous rotating disc should be undetectable according to Humean supervenience [Hawley]
16243 The Humean view is wrong; laws and direction of time are primitive, and atoms are decided by physics [Maudlin]
16271 Lewis says it supervenes on the Mosaic, but actually thinks the Mosaic is all there is [Maudlin]
16273 If the Humean Mosaic is ontological bedrock, there can be no explanation of its structure [Maudlin]
16275 The 'spinning disc' is just impossible, because there cannot be 'homogeneous matter' [Maudlin]
19012 The Humean supervenience base entirely excludes modality [Vetter]