Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'works' and 'Elbow Room: varieties of free will'

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4 ideas

4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 1. Set Theory
Frege did not think of himself as working with sets [Frege, by Hart,WD]
     Full Idea: Frege did not think of himself as working with sets.
     From: report of Gottlob Frege (works [1890]) by William D. Hart - The Evolution of Logic 1
     A reaction: One can hardly blame him, given that set theory was only just being invented.
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 3. Types of Set / b. Empty (Null) Set
The null set is indefensible, because it collects nothing [Frege, by Burge]
     Full Idea: Frege regarded the null set as an indefensible entity from the point of view of iterative set theory. It collects nothing.
     From: report of Gottlob Frege (works [1890]) by Tyler Burge - Frege on Apriority (with ps) 2
     A reaction: The null set defines the possibility that something could be collected. At the very least, it introduces curly brackets into the language.
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 5. Conceptions of Set / c. Logical sets
Frege proposed a realist concept of a set, as the extension of a predicate or concept or function [Frege, by Benardete,JA]
     Full Idea: Contrary to Dedekind's anti-realism, Frege proposed a realist definition of a set as the extension of a predicate (or concept, or function).
     From: report of Gottlob Frege (works [1890]) by José A. Benardete - Metaphysics: the logical approach Ch.13
4. Formal Logic / G. Formal Mereology / 1. Mereology
Aristotle relativises the notion of wholeness to different measures [Aristotle, by Koslicki]
     Full Idea: Aristotle proposes to relativise unity and plurality, so that a single object can be both one (indivisible) and many (divisible) simultaneously, without contradiction, relative to different measures. Wholeness has degrees, with the strength of the unity.
     From: report of Aristotle (works [c.330 BCE]) by Kathrin Koslicki - The Structure of Objects 7.2.12
     A reaction: [see Koslicki's account of Aristotle for details] As always, the Aristotelian approach looks by far the most promising. Simplistic mechanical accounts of how parts make wholes aren't going to work. We must include the conventional and conceptual bit.