Combining Texts

Ideas for 'On the Question of Absolute Undecidability', 'Letters to Antoine Arnauld' and 'A Structural Account of Mathematics'

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2 ideas

27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / c. Forces

12924	Motion alone is relative, but force is real, and establishes its subject [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: Motion in itself separated from force is merely relative, and one cannot establish its subject. But force is something real and absolute.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1688.01.4/14)
	A reaction: The striking phrase here is that force enables us to 'establish its subject'. That is, force is at the heart of reality, and hence, through causal relations, individuates objects. That's how I read it.

27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / a. Concept of matter

9574	'Gunk' is an individual possessing no parts that are atoms [Chihara]
	Full Idea: An 'atomless gunk' is defined to be an individual possessing no parts that are atoms.
	From: Charles Chihara (A Structural Account of Mathematics [2004], App A)
	A reaction: [Lewis coined it] If you ask what are a-toms made of and what are ideas made of, the only answer we can offer is that the a-toms are made of gunk, and the ideas aren't made of anything, which is still bad news for the existence of ideas.