Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'A Realistic Theory of Categories' and 'Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations)'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these texts

display all the ideas for this combination of texts


2 ideas

11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge
For Aristotle, knowledge is of causes, and is theoretical, practical or productive [Aristotle, by Code]
     Full Idea: Aristotle thinks that in general we have knowledge or understanding when we grasp causes, and he distinguishes three fundamental types of knowledge - theoretical, practical and productive.
     From: report of Aristotle (works [c.330 BCE]) by Alan D. Code - Aristotle
     A reaction: Productive knowledge we tend to label as 'knowing how'. The centrality of causes for knowledge would get Aristotle nowadays labelled as a 'naturalist'. It is hard to disagree with his three types, though they may overlap.
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding
To understand a thought you must understand its logical structure [Frege, by Burge]
     Full Idea: For Frege, coming to a full understanding of logical structure is necessary to full understanding of a thought. And understanding logical structure derives from seeing what structures are most fruitful in accounting for the patterns of inference.
     From: report of Gottlob Frege (Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) [1884]) by Tyler Burge - Frege on Knowing the Foundations 4
     A reaction: To me, the notion of finding what is 'fruitful' implies finding the essence of the structure.