Ideas from 'The Universe as We Find It' by John Heil [2012], by Theme Structure

[found in 'The Universe as We Find It' by Heil,John [OUP 2012,978-0-19-959620-1]].

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1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People

18495

The best philosophers I know are the best people I know

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy

18494

Using a technical vocabulary actually prevents discussion of the presuppositions

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 2. Possibility of Metaphysics

18506

Questions of explanation should not be confused with metaphyics

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 3. Metaphysical Systems

18535

Without abstraction we couldn't think systematically

3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 4. Uses of Truth

18534

Truth relates truthbearers to truthmakers

3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 1. For Truthmakers

18531

Philosophers of the past took the truthmaking idea for granted

3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 3. Truthmaker Maximalism

18509

Not all truths need truthmakers - mathematics and logic seem to be just true

6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / a. The Infinite

18518

Infinite numbers are qualitatively different - they are not just very large numbers

6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 7. Mathematical Structuralism / e. Structuralism critique

18500

How could structures be mathematical truthmakers? Maths is just true, without truthmakers

7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 2. Reduction

18539

Our categories lack the neat arrangement needed for reduction

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / d. Commitment of theories

18505

Fundamental ontology aims at the preconditions for any true theory

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / e. Ontological commitment problems

18499

Our quantifications only reveal the truths we accept; the ontology and truthmakers are another matter

7. Existence / E. Categories / 4. Category Realism

18512

Ontology aims to give the fundamental categories of being

8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 1. Nature of Relations

18508

Most philosophers now (absurdly) believe that relations fully exist

8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 2. Internal Relations

18532

If causal relations are power manifestations, that makes them internal relations

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 2. Need for Properties

18510

We need properties to explain how the world works

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 6. Categorical Properties

18522

Categorical properties were introduced by philosophers as actual properties, not if-then properties

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 7. Emergent Properties

18513

Emergent properties will need emergent substances to bear them

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 10. Properties as Predicates

18540

Predicates only match properties at the level of fundamentals

18533

In Fa, F may not be a property of a, but a determinable, satisfied by some determinate

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 11. Properties as Sets

18511

Properties have causal roles which sets can't possibly have

8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 5. Powers and Properties

18523

Are all properties powers, or are there also qualities, or do qualities have the powers?

18524

Properties are both qualitative and dispositional - they are powerful qualities

9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 2. Abstract Objects / d. Problems with abstracta

18498

Abstract objects wouldn't be very popular without the implicit idea of truthmakers

9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / a. Substance

18507

Substances bear properties, so must be simple, and not consist of further substances

9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / a. Parts of objects

18515

Spatial parts are just regions, but objects depend on and are made up of substantial parts

18516

A 'gunky' universe would literally have no parts at all

9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / c. Wholes from parts

18514

Many wholes can survive replacement of their parts

18517

Dunes depend on sand grains, but line segments depend on the whole line

10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 6. Necessity from Essence

18502

If basic physics has natures, then why not reality itself? That would then found the deepest necessities

10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / e. Against possible worlds

18496

If possible worlds are just fictions, they can't be truthmakers for modal judgements

15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 3. Abstraction by mind

18525

Mental abstraction does not make what is abstracted mind-dependent

15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 5. Generalisation by mind

18504

Only particulars exist, and generality is our mode of presentation

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 1. Thought

18503

You can think of tomatoes without grasping what they are

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 8. Human Thought

18538

Non-conscious thought may be unlike conscious thought

18537

Linguistic thought is just as imagistic as non-linguistic thought

19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 3. Predicates

18536

The subject-predicate form reflects reality

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / a. Normativity

18497

Many reject 'moral realism' because they can't see any truthmakers for normative judgements

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 5. Infinite in Nature

18519

If there were infinite electrons, they could vanish without affecting total mass-energy

26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / a. Observation of causation

18526

We should focus on actual causings, rather than on laws and causal sequences

26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / e. Probabilistic causation

18527

Probabilistic causation is not a weak type of cause; it is just a probability of there being a cause

27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / c. Electrons

18520

Electrons are treated as particles, but they lose their individuality in relations

27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 9. Fine-Tuned Universe

18501

Maybe the universe is fine-tuned because it had to be, despite plans by God or Nature?