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Single Idea 10519

[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 7. Abstract/Concrete / a. Abstract/concrete ]

Full Idea

Noonan suggests that the distinction between abstract and concrete objects should be seen as derivative from a difference between the relations centrally involved in criteria of identity associated with names of objects.

Gist of Idea

The abstract/concrete distinction is in the relations in the identity-criteria of object-names

Source

Bob Hale (Abstract Objects [1987], Ch.3.III)

Book Ref

Hale,Bob: 'Abstract Objects' [Blackwell 1987], p.56

A Reaction

[He cites Noonan 1976, but I've lost it] I don't understand this, but collect it as a lead to something that might be interesting. A careful reading of Hale might reveal what Noonan meant.

Related Ideas

Idea 14002 Possible worlds must be abstract, because two qualitatively identical worlds are just one world [Markosian]

Idea 10519 The abstract/concrete distinction is in the relations in the identity-criteria of object-names [Hale]

The 26 ideas with the same theme [general ideas about the abstract/concrete border]:

12966 Objects of ideas can be divided into abstract and concrete, and then further subdivided [Leibniz]
10539 Frege refers to 'concrete' objects, but they are no different in principle from abstract ones [Frege, by Dummett]
11093 We don't say 'red' is abstract, unlike a river, just because it has discontinuous shape [Quine]
1630 We can only see an alien language in terms of our own thought structures (e.g. physical/abstract) [Quine]
10540 We can't say that light is concrete but radio waves abstract [Dummett]
10515 Ostension is possible for concreta; abstracta can only be referred to via other objects [Dummett, by Hale]
10544 The concrete/abstract distinction seems crude: in which category is the Mistral? [Dummett]
10546 We don't need a sharp concrete/abstract distinction [Dummett]
9884 The distinction of concrete/abstract, or actual/non-actual, is a scale, not a dichotomy [Dummett]
10577 Concrete objects have few essential properties, but properties of abstractions are mostly essential [Yablo]
10578 We are thought to know concreta a posteriori, and many abstracta a priori [Yablo]
9210 Possible objects are abstract; actual concrete objects are possible; so abstract/concrete are compatible [Fine,K]
10227 The abstract/concrete boundary now seems blurred, and would need a defence [Shapiro]
10226 Mathematicians regard arithmetic as concrete, and group theory as abstract [Shapiro]
9918 Abstract/concrete is a distinction of kind, not degree [Burgess/Rosen]
9929 Much of what science says about concrete entities is 'abstraction-laden' [Burgess/Rosen]
9619 David's 'Napoleon' is about something concrete and something abstract [Brown,JR]
10512 The abstract/concrete distinction is based on what is perceivable, causal and located [Hale]
10517 Colours and points seem to be both concrete and abstract [Hale]
10520 Token-letters and token-words are concrete objects, type-letters and type-words abstract [Hale]
10519 The abstract/concrete distinction is in the relations in the identity-criteria of object-names [Hale]
8953 Abstract entities don't depend on their concrete entities ...but maybe on the totality of concrete things [Szabó]
22287 If 'concrete' is the negative of 'abstract', that means desires and hallucinations are concrete [Potter]
13744 The cosmos is the only fundamental entity, from which all else exists by abstraction [Schaffer,J]
10493 If concrete is spatio-temporal and causal, and abstract isn't, the distinction doesn't suit physics [Ladyman/Ross]
14934 Concrete and abstract are too crude for modern physics [Ladyman/Ross]