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Single Idea 9825

[filed under theme 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 3. Objects in Thought ]

Full Idea

A thing (an object of our thought) is completely determined by all that can be affirmed or thought concerning it.

Gist of Idea

A thing is completely determined by all that can be thought concerning it

Source

Richard Dedekind (Nature and Meaning of Numbers [1888], I.1)

Book Ref

Dedekind,Richard: 'Essays on the Theory of Numbers' [Dover 1963], p.44

A Reaction

How could you justify this as an observation? Why can't there be unthinkable things (even by God)? Presumably Dedekind is offering a stipulative definition, but we may then be confusing epistemology with ontology.

The 15 ideas with the same theme [objects as conceptual entities used in reasoning]:

9825 A thing is completely determined by all that can be thought concerning it [Dedekind]
10535 Frege's 'objects' are both the referents of proper names, and what predicates are true or false of [Frege, by Dummett]
8489 The concept 'object' is too simple for analysis; unlike a function, it is an expression with no empty place [Frege]
8785 For Frege, objects just are what singular terms refer to [Frege, by Hale/Wright]
10278 Without concepts we would not have any objects [Frege, by Shapiro]
9877 Late Frege saw his non-actual objective objects as exclusively thoughts and senses [Frege, by Dummett]
8718 Meinong says an object need not exist, but must only have properties [Meinong, by Friend]
8971 There are objects of which it is true that there are no such objects [Meinong]
21536 When I perceive a melody, I do not perceive the notes as existing [Russell]
7781 I call an object of thought a 'term'. This is a wide concept implying unity and existence. [Russell]
22320 An 'object' is just what can be referred to without possible non-existence [Wittgenstein]
10796 If objects are thoughts, aren't we back to psychologism? [Marcus (Barcan)]
10531 There is a modern philosophical notion of 'object', first introduced by Frege [Dummett]
9202 Objects, as well as sentences, can have logical form [Fine,K]
8263 An object is an entity which has identity-conditions [Lowe]