more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Fundamental ontology is in the business of telling us what the universe must be like if any theory is true.
Gist of Idea
Fundamental ontology aims at the preconditions for any true theory
Source
John Heil (The Universe as We Find It [2012], 01.1)
Book Ref
Heil,John: 'The Universe as We Find It' [OUP 2012], p.2
A Reaction
Heil is good at stating simple ideas simply. This seems to be a bold claim, but I think I agree with it.
4216 | Express a theory in first-order predicate logic; its ontology is the types of bound variable needed for truth [Quine, by Lowe] |
18966 | Ontological commitment of theories only arise if they are classically quantified [Quine] |
8459 | Fictional quantification has no ontology, so we study ontology through scientific theories [Quine, by Orenstein] |
8497 | An ontology is like a scientific theory; we accept the simplest scheme that fits disorderly experiences [Quine] |
18964 | Ontology is relative to both a background theory and a translation manual [Quine] |
3325 | For Quine everything exists theoretically, as reference, predication and quantification [Quine, by Benardete,JA] |
15002 | If the best theory of adverbs refers to events, then our ontology should include events [Davidson, by Sider] |
18505 | Fundamental ontology aims at the preconditions for any true theory [Heil] |
14983 | Accept the ontology of your best theory - and also that it carves nature at the joints [Sider] |
16258 | To get an ontology from ontological commitment, just add that some theory is actually true [Maudlin] |
14489 | Theories do not avoid commitment to entities by avoiding certain terms or concepts [Thomasson] |