more from Ofra Magidor

Single Idea 18037

[catalogued under 2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 8. Category Mistake / c. Category mistake as semantic]

Full Idea

One might argue that although 'two' refers to the number two, and 'is green' expresses the property of being green, in 'two is green' the property somehow fails to apply to the number two.

Gist of Idea

Maybe when you say 'two is green', the predicate somehow fails to apply?

Source

Ofra Magidor (Category Mistakes [2013], 4.2)

Book Reference

Magidor,Ofra: 'Category Mistakes' [OUP 2013], p.84


A Reaction

It is an interesting thought that you say something which applies a predicate to an object, but the predicate then 'fails to apply' for reasons of its own, over which you have no control. The only possible cause of the failure is the nature of reality.