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Single Idea 9047

[from 'Intro: Theories of Vagueness' by R Keefe / P Smith, in 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / e. Vague objects ]

Full Idea

Many vague predicates are multi-dimensional. 'Big' of people depends on both height and volume; 'nice' does not even have clear dimensions; whether something is a 'heap' depends both the number of grains and their arrangement.

Gist of Idea

Many vague predicates are multi-dimensional; 'big' involves height and volume; heaps include arrangement

Source

R Keefe / P Smith (Intro: Theories of Vagueness [1997], §1)

Book Reference

'Vagueness: a Reader', ed/tr. Keefe,R /Smith,P [MIT 1999], p.5


A Reaction

Anyone who was hoping for a nice tidy theory for this problem should abandon hope at this point. Huge numbers of philosophical problems can be simplified by asking 'what exactly do you mean here?' (e.g. tall or bulky?).