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Single Idea 13934

[filed under theme 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 3. Reality ]

Full Idea

To be real in the scientific sense means to be an element of the system; hence this concept cannot be meaningfully applied to the system itself.

Gist of Idea

To be 'real' is to be an element of a system, so we cannot ask reality questions about the system itself

Source

Rudolph Carnap (Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology [1950], 2)

Book Ref

Carnap,Rudolph: 'Meaning and Necessity (2nd ed)' [Chicago 1988], p.207