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Single Idea 4465

[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 5. Linguistic Analysis ]

Full Idea

There are four uses of the word "is" in English: as existence ('he is at home'), as predication ('he is tall'), as identity ('he is the man I saw'), and as classification ('he is British').

Gist of Idea

Note that "is" can assert existence, or predication, or identity, or classification

Source

PG (Db (ideas) [2031])

A Reaction

This seems a nice instance of the sort of point made by analytical philosophy, which can lead to horrible confusion in other breeds of philosophy when it is overlooked.

The 16 ideas from 'Db (ideas)'

4465 Note that "is" can assert existence, or predication, or identity, or classification [PG]
7415 Question-begging assumes the proposition which is being challenged [PG]
4686 Fallacies are errors in reasoning, 'formal' if a clear rule is breached, and 'informal' if more general [PG]
7414 What is true of a set is also true of its members [PG]
6696 The Ad Hominem Fallacy criticises the speaker rather than the argument [PG]
4687 Minimal theories of truth avoid ontological commitment to such things as 'facts' or 'reality' [PG]
6516 Monty Hall Dilemma: do you abandon your preference after Monty eliminates one of the rivals? [PG]
24054 Everything has a probability, something will happen, and probabilities add up [PG]
3875 If reality is just what we perceive, we would have no need for a sixth sense [PG]
3876 If my team is losing 3-1, I have synthetic a priori knowledge that they need two goals for a draw [PG]
7734 Maybe a mollusc's brain events for pain ARE of the same type (broadly) as a human's [PG]
7735 Maybe a frog's brain events for fear are functionally like ours, but not phenomenally [PG]
3877 Utilitarianism seems to justify the discreet murder of unhappy people [PG]
3874 How could God know there wasn't an unknown force controlling his 'free' will? [PG]
6126 Life is Movement, Respiration, Sensation, Nutrition, Excretion, Reproduction, Growth (MRS NERG) [PG]
3873 An omniscient being couldn't know it was omniscient, as that requires information from beyond its scope of knowledge [PG]