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Full Idea
If we say that the whiteness of this sheet is the whiteness of another sheet, every man perceives this to be absurd; but when he says both sheets are white, this is true and perfectly understood.
Gist of Idea
No one thinks two sheets possess a single whiteness, but all agree they are both white
Source
Thomas Reid (Essays on Intellectual Powers 5: Abstraction [1785], 3)
Book Ref
Reid,Thomas: 'Inquiry and Essays', ed/tr. Beanblossom /K.Lehrer [Hackett 1983], p.242
A Reaction
Well said. Only a philosopher could think the whiteness of one sheet is exactly the same entity as the whiteness of a different sheet. We seem to have brilliantly and correctly labelled them both as white, and then thought that one word implies one thing.
11874 | Real identity admits of no degrees [Reid] |
23649 | No one thinks two sheets possess a single whiteness, but all agree they are both white [Reid] |
23648 | First we notice and name attributes ('abstracting'); then we notice that subjects share them ('generalising') [Reid] |
23652 | We must first conceive things before we can consider them [Reid] |
23651 | Universals are not objects of sense and cannot be imagined - but can be conceived [Reid] |
23650 | Only individuals exist [Reid] |