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Full Idea
A map that is identical in all respects with that which is mapped is just useless. So reductionism is not just a good thing - it is essential to thought.
Gist of Idea
Just as maps must simplify their subject matter, so thought has to be reductionist about reality
Source
Paul O'Grady (Relativism [2002], Ch.6)
Book Ref
O'Grady,Paul: 'Relativism' [Acumen 2002], p.175
A Reaction
A useful warning, when thinking about truth. It is folly to want your thoughts to exactly correspond to reality. I want to understand the world, but not if it requires being the world.
5515 | Imaginary cases are good for revealing our beliefs, rather than the truth [Parfit] |
15164 | We seem to base necessities on thought experiments and imagination [Sidelle] |
4735 | Just as maps must simplify their subject matter, so thought has to be reductionist about reality [O'Grady] |
20183 | So-called 'though experiments' are just philosophers observing features of the world [Cappelen] |