Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Truth and Truthmakers' and 'Every Thing Must Go'

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3 ideas

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 5. Naturalism
'Naturalism' says only the world of space-time exists [Armstrong]
     Full Idea: I define 'naturalism' as the hypothesis that the world of space-time is all that there is.
     From: David M. Armstrong (Truth and Truthmakers [2004], 09.1)
     A reaction: This is helpful, because it doesn't mention the nature of the physical matter contained in space-time, leaving theories like panpsychism as possible naturalistic theories. Galen Strawson, for example.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 6. Physicalism
Physicalism is 'part-whole' (all parts are physical), or 'supervenience/levels' (dependence on physical) [Ladyman/Ross]
     Full Idea: There is part-whole physicalism, that everything is exhausted by basic constituents that are themselves physical, or supervenience or levels physicalism, that the putatively non-physical is dependent on the physical.
     From: J Ladyman / D Ross (Every Thing Must Go [2007], 1.3)
     A reaction: The cite Hüttemann and Papineau 2005. I am not convinced by this distinction. Ladyman and Ross oppose the first one. I'm thinking the second one either collapses into the first one, or it isn't physicalism. Higher levels are abstractions.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 9. States of Affairs
Truthmaking needs states of affairs, to unite particulars with tropes or universals. [Armstrong]
     Full Idea: There must exist states of affairs as truthmakers, to get us beyond 'loose and separate' entities. ...They can be bundles of tropes, or trope-with-particular, or bundles of universals ('compresence'), or instantiations. They are an addition to ontology.
     From: David M. Armstrong (Truth and Truthmakers [2004], 04.5)
     A reaction: Armstrong is the great champion of states of affairs. They seem rather vague to me, and disconcertingly timeless.