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Ideas for 'works', 'Internalism Exposed' and 'Logic (Port-Royal Art of Thinking)'

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7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 7. Abstract/Concrete / b. Levels of abstraction

10502	We can rise by degrees through abstraction, with higher levels representing more things [Arnauld,A/Nicole,P]
	Full Idea: I can start with a triangle, and rise by degrees to all straight-lined figures and to extension itself. The lower degree will include the higher degree. Since the higher degree is less determinate, it can represent more things.
	From: Arnauld / Nicole (Logic (Port-Royal Art of Thinking) [1662], I.5)
	A reaction: [compressed] This attempts to explain the generalising ability of abstraction cited in Idea 10501. If you take a complex object and eliminate features one by one, it can only 'represent' more particulars; it could hardly represent fewer.