Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'On Motion', 'Identity through Possible Worlds' and 'Looking for Spinoza'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts

---

4 ideas

9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 14. Knowledge of Essences

11966	If there are essential properties, how do you find out what they are? [Chisholm]
	Full Idea: It seems to me that if Adam does have essential properties, there is no procedure at all for finding out what they are.
	From: Roderick Chisholm (Identity through Possible Worlds [1967], p.85)
	A reaction: My tentative suggestion is that the essential properties are those which explain the nature, power, function and role of Adam in the 'actual' world. Whatever possibilities he acquires, he had better retain the capacity to be the First Man.

10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 3. Transworld Objects / a. Transworld identity

11965	Could possible Adam gradually transform into Noah, and vice versa? [Chisholm]
	Full Idea: If Adam lived for 931 years in a possible world, instead of his actual 930 years, ..then Adam and Noah could gradually exchange their ages and other properties...and we could trace Adam in a world back to the actual Noah, and vice versa.
	From: Roderick Chisholm (Identity through Possible Worlds [1967], p.81-2)
	A reaction: [very compressed] Chisholm was one of the first to raise this problem for possible worlds, though it had been Quine's objection to modal logic all along. Only Adam having essential properties seems to stop this slippery slope, says Chisholm.

15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 10. Conatus/Striving

21867	Conatus is brain circuits seeking survival and well-being [Damasio]
	Full Idea: Conatus is explicable as the aggregate of dispositions laid down in brain circuitry that seeks both survival and well-being.
	From: Antonio Damasio (Looking for Spinoza [2003], p.36)
	A reaction: So conatus is the motivation of my inner personal assistant, who reminds me what I am doing later today. I like the mention of dispositions, hence powers.

27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 1. Relativity / a. Special relativity

12709	Motion is not absolute, but consists in relation [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: In reality motion is not something absolute, but consists in relation.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (On Motion [1677], A6.4.1968), quoted by Daniel Garber - Leibniz:Body,Substance,Monad 3
	A reaction: It is often thought that motion being relative was invented by Einstein, but Leibniz wholeheartedly embraced 'Galilean relativity', and refused to even consider any absolute concept of motion. Acceleration is a bit trickier than velocity.