Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Events and Their Names', 'fragments/reports' and 'On the Syllogism IV'

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8 ideas

5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 6. Relations in Logic

17744	De Morgan started the study of relations and their properties [De Morgan, by Walicki]
	Full Idea: De Morgan started the sustained interest in the study of relations and their properties.
	From: report of Augustus De Morgan (On the Syllogism IV [1859]) by Michal Walicki - Introduction to Mathematical Logic History D.1.1

13501	De Morgan found inferences involving relations, which eluded Aristotle's syllogistic [De Morgan, by Hart,WD]
	Full Idea: There was a prejudice against relations (in favour of properties) but De Morgan and others that impeccable inferences turn on relations and elude Aristotle's syllogistic. Thus: All horses are animals. Hence, all heads of horses are heads of animals.
	From: report of Augustus De Morgan (On the Syllogism IV [1859]) by William D. Hart - The Evolution of Logic 4
	A reaction: This is actually an early example of modern analytic philosophy in action. You start with the inferences, and then work back to the ontology and the definition of concepts. But in pinning down such concepts, do we miss their full meaning?

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / a. Nature of Being

12270	Being is one [Melissus, by Aristotle]
	Full Idea: Being is one.
	From: report of Melissus (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]) by Aristotle - Topics 104b23
	A reaction: I can only really understand this in terms of physics, as the belief that ultimately there is one simple theory which explains everything. That project doesn't look terribly promising, despite the lovely simplifications of modern physics.

7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 4. Events / c. Reduction of events

8978	Events are made of other things, and are not fundamental to ontology [Bennett]
	Full Idea: Events are not basic items in the universe; they should not be included in any fundamental ontology...all the truths about them are entailed by and explained and made true by truths that do not involve the event concept.
	From: Jonathan Bennett (Events and Their Names [1988], p.12), quoted by Peter Simons - Events 3.1
	A reaction: Given the variable time spans of events, their ability to coincide, their ability to contain no motion, their blatantly conventional component, and their recalcitrance to individuation, I say Bennett is right.

26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / b. Causal relata

10364	Facts are about the world, not in it, so they can't cause anything [Bennett]
	Full Idea: Facts are not the sort of item that can cause anything. A fact is a true proposition (they say); it is not something in the world but is rather something about the world.
	From: Jonathan Bennett (Events and Their Names [1988], p.22), quoted by Jonathan Schaffer - The Metaphysics of Causation 1.1
	A reaction: Compare 10361. Good argument, but maybe 'fact' is ambiguous. See Idea 10365. Events are said to be more concrete, and so can do the job, but their individuation also seems to depend on a description (as Davidson has pointed out).

27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement

3059	There is no real motion, only the appearance of it [Melissus, by Diog. Laertius]
	Full Idea: There is no such thing as real motion, but there only appears to be such.
	From: report of Melissus (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.4.3

27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 1. Void

5100	The void is not required for change, because a plenum can alter in quality [Aristotle on Melissus]
	Full Idea: There is no need for void to be the cause of all change, because it is perfectly possible for a plenum to alter qualitatively (which is something Melissus overlooked).
	From: comment on Melissus (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]) by Aristotle - Physics 214a27
	A reaction: In modern physics this presumably gives us fluctuations in a force field. Motion is like a cat being digested by a python. The atomist claim that emptiness is needed if anything is to move still has intuitive appeal.

27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 2. Eternal Universe

456	Nothing could come out of nothing [Melissus]
	Full Idea: If Nothing existed, in no way could anything come into being out of nothing.
	From: Melissus (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE], B1), quoted by (who?) - where?