Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'A Priori Knowledge Revisited' and 'The Sentiment of Rationality'

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2 ideas

7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James]
     Full Idea: Every way of classifying a thing is but a way of handling it for some particular purpose. Conceptions, 'kinds', are teleological instruments.
     From: William James (The Sentiment of Rationality [1882], p.24)
     A reaction: Could there not be ways of classifying which suit all of our purposes? If there were a naturally correct way to classifying things, then any pragmatist would probably welcome that. (I don't say there is such a way).
7. Existence / E. Categories / 3. Proposed Categories
Stoics categories are Substrate, Quality, Disposition, and Relation [Chrysippus, by Pasnau]
     Full Idea: The Stoics proposed a rather modest categorisation of Substrate, Quality, Disposition, and Relation.
     From: report of Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]) by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 12.1