Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Philosophical Investigations' and 'Necessity, Essence and Individuation'

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3 ideas

18. Thought / C. Content / 5. Twin Earth
That water is essentially H2O in some way concerns how we use 'water' [Sidelle]
     Full Idea: If water is essentially H2O, this is going to have something to do with our intentions in using 'water'.
     From: Alan Sidelle (Necessity, Essence and Individuation [1989], Ch.1)
     A reaction: This very simple point looks to be correct, and raises very important questions about the whole Twin Earth thing. When new discoveries are made, words shift their meanings. We're not quite sure what 'jade' means any more.
18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content
Is white simple, or does it consist of the colours of the rainbow? [Wittgenstein]
     Full Idea: Is white simple, or does it consist of the colours of the rainbow?
     From: Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations [1952], §047)
     A reaction: A nice challenge to externalism. White remains simple long after experts have told us it is complex.
Externalist accounts of mental content begin in Wittgenstein [Wittgenstein, by Heil]
     Full Idea: The roots of externalist accounts of mental content lie in Wittgenstein.
     From: report of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations [1952]) by John Heil - From an Ontological Point of View 18.2 n1
     A reaction: This points to the key idea being that content involves the whole language community, rather than that it involves the physical stuffs of the world, such as water. I suspect that Wittgenstein is right, but Putnam is wrong.