Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Letters to Edward Stillingfleet', 'A Powerful Particulars View of Causation' and 'New Essays on Human Understanding'

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2 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 5. Metaphysics beyond Science
22611 Metaphysics can criticise interpretations of science theories, and give good feedback [Ingthorsson]
     Full Idea: Metaphysics is capable of critical scrutiny of the way the empirical sciences make sense of their own theories, and can provide them with very useful feedback.
     From: R.D. Ingthorsson (A Powerful Particulars View of Causation [2021], 1.9)
     A reaction: I agree with this, but I don't think it is the main job of metaphysics, which has its own agenda, using science as some of its raw material.
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 1. Nature of Analysis
12997 Analysis is the art of finding the middle term [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: The art of finding intermediate terms (the 'middle term') is the art of 'analysis'.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (New Essays on Human Understanding [1704], 4.02)
     A reaction: This proposal is straight out of Aristotle's 'Posterior Analytics'. Nowadays we would say there was much more to analysis, the finding of necessary and sufficient conditions being the most obvious way of putting it.