Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Particulars in Particular Clothing', 'Tropes' and 'Nietzsche, Genealogy, History'

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6 ideas

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / a. Nature of tropes

10464	A trope is a bit of a property or relation (not an exemplification or a quality) [Bacon,John]
	Full Idea: A trope is an instance or bit (not an exemplification) of a property or a relation. Bill Clinton's eloquence is not his participating in the universal eloquence, or the peculiar quality of his eloquence, but his bit, and his alone, of eloquence.
	From: John Bacon (Tropes [2008], Intro)
	A reaction: If we have identified something as a 'bit' of something, we can ask whether that bit is atomic, or divisible into something else, and we can ask what are the qualities and properties and powers of this bit, we seems to defeat the object.

10465	Trope theory is ontologically parsimonious, with possibly only one-category [Bacon,John]
	Full Idea: A major attraction of tropism has been its promise of parsimony; some adherents (such as Campbell) go so far as to proclaim a one-category ontology.
	From: John Bacon (Tropes [2008], §2)
	A reaction: This seems to go against the folk idiom which suggests that it is things which have properties, rather than properties ruling to roost. Maybe if one identified tropes with processes, the theory could be brought more into line with modern physics?

10467	Individuals consist of 'compresent' tropes [Bacon,John]
	Full Idea: 'Qualitons' or 'relatons' (quality and relation tropes) are held to belong to the same individual if they are all 'compresent' with one another.
	From: John Bacon (Tropes [2008], §4)
	A reaction: There is a perennial problem with bundles - how to distinguish accidental compresence (like people in a lift) from united compresence (like people who make a family).

18431	Internal relations combine some tropes into a nucleus, which bears the non-essential tropes [Simons, by Edwards]
	Full Idea: Simons's 'nuclear' option blends features of the substratum and bundle theories. First we have tropes collected by virtue of their internal relations, forming the essential kernel or nucleus. This nucleus then bears the non-essential tropes.
	From: report of Peter Simons (Particulars in Particular Clothing [1994], p.567) by Douglas Edwards - Properties 3.5
	A reaction: [compression of Edwards's summary] This strikes me as being a remarkably good theory. I am not sure of the ontological status of properties, such that they can (unaided) combine to make part of an object. What binds the non-essentials?

10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 2. Nature of Possible Worlds / a. Nature of possible worlds

10466	Maybe possible worlds are just sets of possible tropes [Bacon,John]
	Full Idea: Meinongian tropism has the advantage that possible worlds might be thought of as sets of 'qualitons' and 'relatons' (quality and relational tropes).
	From: John Bacon (Tropes [2008], §3)
	A reaction: You are still left with 'possible' to explain, and I'm not sure that anything is explain here. If the actual world is sets of tropes, then possible worlds would also have to be, I suppose.

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / a. Nature of emotions

22235	Feelings are not unchanging, but have a history (especially if they are noble) [Foucault]
	Full Idea: We believe that feelings are immutable, but every sentiment, particularly the most noble and disinterested, has a history.
	From: Michel Foucault (Nietzsche, Genealogy, History [1971], p.86), quoted by Johanna Oksala - How to Read Foucault 5
	A reaction: This is the sort of remark that makes me think Foucault is worth reading. Aristotle thought you could teach correct feelings. That implies that you can also teach incorrect feelings.