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Full Idea
Our thoughts are full of generalities, but the world contains no generalities. So how can our thoughts accurately represent the world? This is the problem of universals.
Gist of Idea
Thoughts are general, but the world isn't, so how can we think accurately?
Source
Stephen Boulter (Why Medieval Philosophy Matters [2019], 1)
Book Ref
Boulter,Stephen: 'Why Medieval Philosophy Matters' [Bloomsbury 2019], p.33
A Reaction
I so love it when someone comes up with a really clear explanation of a problem, and this is a beauty from Stephen Boulter. Only a really clear explanation can motivate philosophical issues for non-philosophers.
| 22134 | Thoughts are general, but the world isn't, so how can we think accurately? [Boulter] |
| 22135 | Our concepts can never fully capture reality, but simplification does not falsify [Boulter] |
| 22138 | Science rests on scholastic metaphysics, not on Hume, Kant or Carnap [Boulter] |
| 22139 | Experiments don't just observe; they look to see what interventions change the natural order [Boulter] |
| 22136 | Science begins with sufficient reason, de-animation, and the importance of nature [Boulter] |
| 22150 | Logical possibility needs the concepts of the proposition to be adequate [Boulter] |
| 22152 | Aristotelians accept the analytic-synthetic distinction [Boulter] |
| 22156 | The facts about human health are the measure of the values in our lives [Boulter] |