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Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Critique of Practical Reason' and 'The Rationality of Science'

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2 ideas

10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 1. Sources of Necessity
De re necessity arises from the way the world is [Newton-Smith]
     Full Idea: A necessary truth is 'de re' if its necessity arises from the way the world is.
     From: W.H. Newton-Smith (The Rationality of Science [1981], VII.6)
Necessity cannot be extracted from an empirical proposition [Kant]
     Full Idea: It is a clear contradiction to try to extract necessity from an empirical proposition.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Practical Reason [1788], Pref)
     A reaction: This is precisely the idea which Kripke challenged, claiming that the necessary essences of natural kinds such as gold have to be discovered empirically. All my intuitions are with Kant (and Hume) on this, but it is a complex issue…