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Single Idea 9116
[filed under theme 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 10. Vagueness / c. Vagueness as ignorance
]
Full Idea
Vague words have hidden boundaries. The subtraction of a single grain of sand might turn a heap into a non-heap.
Gist of Idea
Vague words have hidden boundaries
Source
Roy Sorensen (Vagueness and Contradiction [2001], Intro)
Book Ref
Sorensen,Roy: 'Vagueness and Contradiction' [OUP 2004], p.1
A Reaction
The first sentence could be the slogan for the epistemic view of vagueness. The opposite view is Sainsbury's - that vague words are those which do not have any boundaries. Sorensen admits his view is highly counterintuitive. I think I prefer Sainsbury.
The
14 ideas
with the same theme
[vagueness arising from our imprecise knowledge]:
12516
|
Obscure simple ideas result from poor senses, brief impressions, or poor memory
[Locke]
|
12517
|
Ideas are uncertain when they are unnamed, because too close to other ideas
[Locke]
|
23542
|
Identifying vagueness with ignorance is the common mistake of confusing symptoms with cause
[Fine,K]
|
9044
|
If someone is borderline tall, no further information is likely to resolve the question
[Keefe/Smith]
|
9048
|
The simplest approach, that vagueness is just ignorance, retains classical logic and semantics
[Keefe/Smith]
|
9055
|
The epistemic view of vagueness must explain why we don't know the predicate boundary
[Keefe/Smith]
|
6863
|
Close to conceptual boundaries judgement is too unreliable to give knowledge
[Williamson]
|
21591
|
Vagueness is epistemic. Statements are true or false, but we often don't know which
[Williamson]
|
21619
|
If a heap has a real boundary, omniscient speakers would agree where it is
[Williamson]
|
21620
|
The epistemic view says that the essence of vagueness is ignorance
[Williamson]
|
21622
|
If there is a true borderline of which we are ignorant, this drives a wedge between meaning and use
[Williamson]
|
9120
|
Vagueness in a concept is its indiscriminability from other possible concepts
[Williamson]
|
16226
|
Epistemic vagueness seems right in the case of persons
[Hawley]
|
9116
|
Vague words have hidden boundaries
[Sorensen]
|