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Full Idea
It may be that two orders or classes of good things are not commensurable, though they are comparable, with those in the other.
Clarification
'Commensurable' means able to compare by measurement
Gist of Idea
Two goods may be comparable, although they are not commensurable
Source
W. David Ross (The Right and the Good [1930], §VI)
Book Ref
Ross,W.David: 'The Right and the Good' [OUP 1930], p.154
A Reaction
This refers to moral issues, but seems helpful when faced with Kuhn's claim that Newton and Einstein are 'incommensurable'. We could hardly prefer one theory to another if we couldn't compare them.
| 12127 | Many different theories will fit the observed facts [Bacon] |
| 5940 | Two goods may be comparable, although they are not commensurable [Ross] |
| 17650 | We lack frames of reference to transform physics, biology and psychology into one another [Goodman] |
| 12128 | In theory change, words shift their natural reference, so the theories are incommensurable [Kuhn] |
| 6162 | Kuhn has a description theory of reference, so the reference of 'electron' changes with the descriptions [Rowlands on Kuhn] |
| 22184 | Incommensurability assumes concepts get their meaning from within the theory [Kuhn, by Okasha] |
| 7619 | Galileo's notions can't be 'incommensurable' if we can fully describe them [Putnam on Kuhn] |
| 3866 | If theories are really incommensurable, we could believe them all [Newton-Smith] |
| 4732 | One may understand a realm of ideas, but be unable to judge their rationality or truth [O'Grady] |
| 22185 | Two things can't be incompatible if they are incommensurable [Okasha] |