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9169 | A statement can be metaphysically necessary and epistemologically contingent [Putnam] |
Full Idea: A statement can be (metaphysically) necessary and epistemologically contingent. Human intuition has no privileged access to metaphysical necessity. | |
From: Hilary Putnam (Meaning and Reference [1973], p.160) | |
A reaction: The terminology here is dangerously confusing. 'Contingent' is a term which (as Kripke insists) refers to reality, not to our epistemological abilities. The locution of adding the phrase "for all I know" seems to handle the problem better. |
5819 | Conceivability is no proof of possibility [Putnam] |
Full Idea: Conceivability is no proof of possibility. | |
From: Hilary Putnam (Meaning and Reference [1973], p.159) | |
A reaction: This strikes me as a really basic truth which all novice philosophers should digest. It led many philosophers, especially rationalists, into all sorts of ill-founded claims about what is possible or necessary. Zombies, for instance… |