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3 ideas
21631 | To know, believe, hope or fear, one must grasp the thought, but not when you fail to do them [Williamson] |
Full Idea: To know, believe, hope, or fear that A, one must grasp the thought that A. In contrast, to fail to know, believe, hope or fear that A, one need not grasp the thought that A. | |
From: Timothy Williamson (Vagueness [1994], 9.3 c) | |
A reaction: A simple point, which at least shows that propositional attitudes are a two-stage operation. |
9591 | The human intellect has not been, and cannot be, fully formalized [Nagel/Newman] |
Full Idea: The resources of the human intellect have not been, and cannot be, fully formalized. | |
From: E Nagel / JR Newman (Gödel's Proof [1958], VIII) | |
A reaction: This conclusion derives from Gödel's Theorem. Some people (e.g. Penrose) get over-excited by this discovery, and conclude that the human mind is supernatural. Imagination is the key - it is a feature of rationality that escapes mechanization. |
21600 | 'Blue' is not a family resemblance, because all the blues resemble in some respect [Williamson] |
Full Idea: 'Blue' is vague by some standards, for it has borderline cases, but that does not make it a family resemblance term, for all the shades of blue resemble each other in some respect. | |
From: Timothy Williamson (Vagueness [1994], 3.3) | |
A reaction: Presumably the point of family resemblance is that fringe members as still linked to the family, despite having lost the main features. A bit of essentialism seems needed here. |