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All the ideas for 'Truth (frags)', 'works' and 'Lecture on Nominalism'

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4 ideas

2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 1. Fallacy

21697	The Struthionic Fallacy is that of burying one's head in the sand [Quine]
	Full Idea: The Struthionic Fallacy is that of burying one's head in the sand [which I name from the Greek for 'ostrich']
	From: Willard Quine (Lecture on Nominalism [1946], §4)
	A reaction: David Armstrong said this is the the fallacy involved in a denial of universals. Quine is accusing Carnap and co. of the fallacy.

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

21698	All relations, apart from ancestrals, can be reduced to simpler logic [Quine]
	Full Idea: Much of the theory of relations can be developed as a virtual theory, in which we seem to talk of relations, but can explain our notation in terms {finally] of just the logic of truth-functions, quantification and identity. The exception is ancestrals.
	From: Willard Quine (Lecture on Nominalism [1946], §8)
	A reaction: The irreducibility of ancestrals is offered as a reason for treating sets as universals.

6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 3. Mathematical Nominalism

21696	Nominalism rejects both attributes and classes (where extensionalism accepts the classes) [Quine]
	Full Idea: 'Nominalism' is distinct from 'extensionalism'. The main point of the latter doctrine is rejection of properties or attributes in favour of classes. But class are universals equally with attributes, and nominalism in the defined sense rejects both.
	From: Willard Quine (Lecture on Nominalism [1946], §3)
	A reaction: Hence Quine soon settled on labelling himself as an 'extensionalist', leaving proper nominalism to Nelson Goodman. It is commonly observed that science massively refers to attributes, so they can't just be eliminated.

29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 2. Greek Polytheism

9287	Bruno said that ancient Egyptian magic was the true religion [Bruno, by Yates]
	Full Idea: Giordano Bruno maintained that the magical Egyptian religion of the world was not only the most ancient but also the only true religion, which both Judaism and Christianity had obscured and corrupted.
	From: report of Giordano Bruno (works [1590]) by Frances A. Yates - Giordano Bruno and Hermetic Tradition Ch.1
	A reaction: His beliefs were based on the Hermetic writings. No wonder he was burned at the stake. Atheists now lay flowers at his memorial in Rome. The sixteenth century was when the hunt for alternatives to established religion began.