Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Commentary on 'De Anima'', 'Farewell to Reality: fairytale physics' and 'How to Make our Ideas Clear'

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8 ideas

3. Truth / E. Pragmatic Truth / 1. Pragmatic Truth

7661	Truth is the opinion fated to be ultimately agreed by all investigators [Peirce]
	Full Idea: The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate, is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real.
	From: Charles Sanders Peirce (How to Make our Ideas Clear [1878], p.38)
	A reaction: At least this affirms that truth is an ideal about which we dream, and is not confined merely to what we can actually know. But it rules out anything beyond the reach of all investigation, which seems a misconception of truth. What could angels know?

11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding

19089	Our whole conception of an object is its possible practical consequences [Peirce]
	Full Idea: Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the objects of our conceptions to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.
	From: Charles Sanders Peirce (How to Make our Ideas Clear [1878], EP i.132), quoted by Albert Atkin - Peirce 2 'early'
	A reaction: This is his 1878 version, which was fine-tuned later in life. He seems to have extended his principle to include possibilities, as well as the mere objects. That is, he moved beyond mere nominalism.

11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / b. Elements of beliefs

7660	We are aware of beliefs, they appease our doubts, and they are rules of action, or habits [Peirce]
	Full Idea: A belief has just three properties: first, it is something that we are aware of; second, it appeases the irritation of doubt; and, third, it involves the establishment in our nature of a rule of action, or, say for short, a habit.
	From: Charles Sanders Peirce (How to Make our Ideas Clear [1878], p.28)
	A reaction: Peirce probably believed that Bismarck breathed oxygen, but was unaware of his belief, and no one ever dreamed of acting on such a belief, unless Bismarck was gasping for air.

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 5. Meaning as Verification

14906	Non-positivist verificationism says only take a hypothesis seriously if it is scientifically based and testable [Ladyman/Ross on Peirce]
	Full Idea: With Peirce, we endorse a non-positivist version of verificationism - no hypothesis should be taken seriously if apparently beyond our capacity to investigate, and serious metaphysics must concern at least two plausible scientific hypotheses.
	From: comment on Charles Sanders Peirce (How to Make our Ideas Clear [1878]) by J Ladyman / D Ross - Every Thing Must Go 1.3
	A reaction: [compressed] They say this is NOT a theory about meaning, as 'The Big Bang was caused by Elvis' is perfectly meaningful. Verificationism always seems to rule out bold speculation. Don't say 'take string theory seriously', if we can't test it?

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / e. Death

16764	The soul conserves the body, as we see by its dissolution when the soul leaves [Toletus]
	Full Idea: Every accident of a living thing, as well as all its organs and temperaments and its dispositions are conserved by the soul. We see this from experience, since when that soul recedes, all these dissolve and become corrupted.
	From: Franciscus Toletus (Commentary on 'De Anima' [1572], II.1.1), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 24.5
	A reaction: A nice example of observing a phenemonon, but not being able to observe the dependence relation the right way round. Compare Descartes in Idea 16763.

27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / b. Fields

21731	Fields can be 'scalar', or 'vector', or 'tensor', or 'spinor' [Baggott]
	Full Idea: Fields can be 'scalar', with no particular direction (pointing, but not pushing or pulling); or 'vector', with a direction (like magnetism, or Newtonian gravity); or 'tensor' (needing further parameters); or 'spinor' (depending on spin orientation).
	From: Jim Baggott (Farewell to Reality: fairytale physics [2013], 2 'Quantum')
	A reaction: [compressed] So the question is, why do they differ? What is it in the nature of each field the result in a distinctive directional feature?

21730	A 'field' is a property with a magnitude, distributed across all of space and time [Baggott]
	Full Idea: A 'field' is defined in terms of the magnitude of some physical property distributed over every point in time and space.
	From: Jim Baggott (Farewell to Reality: fairytale physics [2013], 2 'Quantum')
	A reaction: If it involves a 'property', normal usage entails that there is some entity which possesses the property. So what's the entity? Eh? Eh? You don't know! Disappointed...

27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / b. Standard model

21732	The current standard model requires 61 particles [Baggott]
	Full Idea: The current model requires 61 particles: three generations of two leptons and two flavours of quark, in three different colours (making 24); the anti-particles of all of these (48); 12 force particles (photon, W1, Z0, 8 gluons), and a Higgs boson.
	From: Jim Baggott (Farewell to Reality: fairytale physics [2013], 6 n)