Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Commentary on 'De Anima'', 'The Nature of Musical Expression' and 'Neutral Relations'

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8 ideas

8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 1. Nature of Relations

14217	The 'standard' view of relations is that they hold of several objects in a given order [Fine,K]
	Full Idea: The 'standard' view of relations, held by philosophers and logicians alike, is that we may meaningfully talk of a relation holding of several objects in a given order (which works for examples like 'loves' and 'between').
	From: Kit Fine (Neutral Relations [2000], Intro)
	A reaction: The point of Fine's paper is that there are many relations for which this model seems to fail.

14216	The 'positionalist' view of relations says the number of places is fixed, but not the order [Fine,K]
	Full Idea: The 'positionalist' view of relations is that each relation is taken to be endowed with a given number of argument places, or positions, in no specified order. [...The argument-places are specific entities, such as 'lover' and 'beloved']
	From: Kit Fine (Neutral Relations [2000], Intro)
	A reaction: Fine offers this as an alternative to the 'standard' view of relations, in which the order of the objects matters. He then adds, and favours, the 'anti-positionalist' view, where there are not even a fixed number of places.

14218	A block on top of another contains one relation, not both 'on top of' and 'beneath' [Fine,K]
	Full Idea: If block a is on block b, it is hard to see how this state of affairs might consist of both 'on top of' and 'beneath'. Surely if the state is a genuine relational complex, there must be a single relation for these relata?
	From: Kit Fine (Neutral Relations [2000], 1)
	A reaction: He has already shown that if such relations imply their converses, then that gives you two separate relations. He goes on to observe that you cannot pick one of the two as correct, because of symmetry. He later offers the 'vertical placement' relation.

14219	Language imposes a direction on a road which is not really part of the road [Fine,K]
	Full Idea: Roads in the directional sense (A-to-B or B-to-A) are merely roads in the adirectional sense up which a direction has been imposed.
	From: Kit Fine (Neutral Relations [2000], 1)
	A reaction: This is Fine's linguistic objection to the standard view of relations. It is undeniable that language imposes an order where it may not exist ('Bob and Jane play tennis'), and this fact is very significant in discussing relations.

14220	Explain biased relations as orderings of the unbiased, or the unbiased as permutation classes of the biased? [Fine,K]
	Full Idea: A 'biased' relation can be taken to be the result of imposing ordering on the argument-places of an unbiased relation, ..or we can take an unbiased relation to be a 'permutation class' of biased relations. This is a familiar metaphysic predicament.
	From: Kit Fine (Neutral Relations [2000], 3)
	A reaction: 'Biased' relations such as 'on top of' have an ordering to their places, but 'unbiased' relations such as 'vertical placement' do not. This is a nice question in the metaphysics of grounding relations between key concepts.

21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 4. Art as Expression

12165	Romantics say music expresses ideas, or the Will, or intuitions, or feelings [Scruton]
	Full Idea: According to the Romantic theory music was an expression of something, of an idea (Hegel), of the Will (Schopenhauer), of 'intuitions' (Croce), or of feelings (Collingwood).
	From: Roger Scruton (The Nature of Musical Expression [1981], p.54)
	A reaction: Deryck Cooke was the culmination of music as expression of feeling, and Stravinsky was the greatest rebel against the whole idea of expression in music. You can set out to create interesting music which does or does not grab the emotions.

21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 4. Emotion in Art

12164	Expressing melancholy is a good thing, but arousing it is a bad thing [Scruton]
	Full Idea: To describe a piece of music as expressive of melancholy is to give a reason for listening to it; to describe it as arousing or evoking melancholy is to give a reason for avoiding it.
	From: Roger Scruton (The Nature of Musical Expression [1981], p.49)
	A reaction: Expressing sexual desire, while avoiding arousing it, is the nice challenge for a particular type of art. Would Scruton say that expressing joy is a good thing, but arousing it is bad? It is a nice observation, though.

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.