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39 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 7. Against Metaphysics
After 1903, Husserl avoids metaphysical commitments [Mares]
     Full Idea: In Husserl's philosophy after 1903, he is unwilling to commit himself to any specific metaphysical views.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 08.2)
5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 1. Overview of Logic
If a sound conclusion comes from two errors that cancel out, the path of the argument must matter [Rumfitt]
     Full Idea: If a designated conclusion follows from the premisses, but the argument involves two howlers which cancel each other out, then the moral is that the path an argument takes from premisses to conclusion does matter to its logical evaluation.
     From: Ian Rumfitt ("Yes" and "No" [2000], II)
     A reaction: The drift of this is that our view of logic should be a little closer to the reasoning of ordinary language, and we should rely a little less on purely formal accounts.
5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 2. Logical Connectives / a. Logical connectives
Standardly 'and' and 'but' are held to have the same sense by having the same truth table [Rumfitt]
     Full Idea: If 'and' and 'but' really are alike in sense, in what might that likeness consist? Some philosophers of classical logic will reply that they share a sense by virtue of sharing a truth table.
     From: Ian Rumfitt ("Yes" and "No" [2000])
     A reaction: This is the standard view which Rumfitt sets out to challenge.
The sense of a connective comes from primitively obvious rules of inference [Rumfitt]
     Full Idea: A connective will possess the sense that it has by virtue of its competent users' finding certain rules of inference involving it to be primitively obvious.
     From: Ian Rumfitt ("Yes" and "No" [2000], III)
     A reaction: Rumfitt cites Peacocke as endorsing this view, which characterises the logical connectives by their rules of usage rather than by their pure semantic value.
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 4. Axioms for Number / a. Axioms for numbers
The truth of the axioms doesn't matter for pure mathematics, but it does for applied [Mares]
     Full Idea: The epistemological burden of showing that the axioms are true is removed if we are only studying pure mathematics. If, however, we want to look at applied mathematics, then this burden returns.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 11.4)
     A reaction: One of those really simple ideas that hits the spot. Nice. The most advanced applied mathematics must rest on counting and measuring.
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / a. Mathematical empiricism
Mathematics is relations between properties we abstract from experience [Mares]
     Full Idea: Aristotelians treat mathematical facts as relations between properties. These properties, moreover, are abstracted from our experience of things. ...This view finds a natural companion in structuralism.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 11.7)
     A reaction: This is the view of mathematics that I personally favour. The view that we abstract 'five' from a group of five pebbles is too simplistic, but this is the right general approach.
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 2. A Priori Contingent
Light in straight lines is contingent a priori; stipulated as straight, because they happen to be so [Mares]
     Full Idea: It seems natural to claim that light rays moving in straight lines is contingent but a priori. Scientists stipulate that they are the standard by which we measure straightness, but their appropriateness for this task is a contingent feature of the world.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 02.9)
     A reaction: This resembles the metre rule in Paris. It is contingent that something is a certain way, so we make being that way a conventional truth, which can therefore be known via the convention, rather than via the contingent fact.
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 6. A Priori from Reason
Aristotelians dislike the idea of a priori judgements from pure reason [Mares]
     Full Idea: Aristotelians tend to eschew talk about a special faculty of pure reason that is responsible for all of our a priori judgements.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 08.9)
     A reaction: He is invoking Carrie Jenkins's idea that the a priori is knowledge of relations between concepts which have been derived from experience. Nice idea. We thus have an empirical a priori, integrated into the natural world. Abstraction must be involved.
12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
Empiricists say rationalists mistake imaginative powers for modal insights [Mares]
     Full Idea: Empiricist critiques of rationalism often accuse rationalists of confusing the limits of their imaginations with real insight into what is necessarily true.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 03.01)
     A reaction: See ideas on 'Conceivable as possible' for more on this. You shouldn't just claim to 'see' that something is true, but be willing to offer some sort of reason, truthmaker or grounding. Without that, you may be right, but you are on weak ground.
13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 5. Coherentism / a. Coherence as justification
The most popular view is that coherent beliefs explain one another [Mares]
     Full Idea: In what is perhaps the most popular version of coherentism, a system of beliefs is a set of beliefs that explain one another.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 01.5)
     A reaction: These seems too simple. My first response would be that explanations are what result from coherence sets of beliefs. I may have beliefs that explain nothing, but at least have the virtue of being coherent.
14. Science / B. Scientific Theories / 3. Instrumentalism
Operationalism defines concepts by our ways of measuring them [Mares]
     Full Idea: The central claim of Percy Bridgman's theory of operational definitions (1920s), is that definitions of certain scientific concepts are given by the ways that we have to measure them. For example, a straight line is 'the path of a light ray'.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 02.9)
     A reaction: It is often observed that this captures the spirit of Special Relativity.
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 2. Origin of Concepts / b. Empirical concepts
Aristotelian justification uses concepts abstracted from experience [Mares]
     Full Idea: Aristotelian justification is the process of reasoning using concepts that are abstracted from experience (rather than, say, concepts that are innate or those that we associate with the meanings of words).
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 08.1)
     A reaction: See Carrie Jenkins for a full theory along these lines (though she doesn't mention Aristotle). This is definitely my preferred view of concepts.
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / c. Classical concepts
The essence of a concept is either its definition or its conceptual relations? [Mares]
     Full Idea: In the 'classical theory' a concept includes in it those concepts that define it. ...In the 'theory theory' view the content of a concept is determined by its relationship to other concepts.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 03.10)
     A reaction: Neither of these seem to give an intrinsic account of a concept, or any account of how the whole business gets off the ground.
19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 8. Possible Worlds Semantics
Possible worlds semantics has a nice compositional account of modal statements [Mares]
     Full Idea: Possible worlds semantics is appealing because it gives a compositional analysis of the truth conditions of statements about necessity and possibility.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 02.2)
     A reaction: Not sure I get this. Is the meaning composed by the gradual addition of worlds? If not, how is meaning composed in the normal way, from component words and phrases?
19. Language / D. Propositions / 3. Concrete Propositions
Unstructured propositions are sets of possible worlds; structured ones have components [Mares]
     Full Idea: An unstructured proposition is a set of possible worlds. ....Structured propositions contain entities that correspond to various parts of the sentences or thoughts that express them.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 02.3)
     A reaction: I am definitely in favour of structured propositions. It strikes me as so obvious as to be not worth discussion - so I am obviously missing something here. Mares says structured propositions are 'more convenient'.
19. Language / F. Communication / 3. Denial
We learn 'not' along with affirmation, by learning to either affirm or deny a sentence [Rumfitt]
     Full Idea: The standard view is that affirming not-A is more complex than affirming the atomic sentence A itself, with the latter determining its sense. But we could learn 'not' directly, by learning at once how to either affirm A or reject A.
     From: Ian Rumfitt ("Yes" and "No" [2000], IV)
     A reaction: [compressed] This seems fairly anti-Fregean in spirit, because it looks at the psychology of how we learn 'not' as a way of clarifying what we mean by it, rather than just looking at its logical behaviour (and thus giving it a secondary role).
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 4. Citizenship
Some liberals thinks checks and balances are enough, without virtuous citizens [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Many classical liberals believed that a liberal democracy could function effectively even in the absence of an especially virtuous citizenry, by creating checks and balances. …One set of private interests would check another set of private interests.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: This seems to be the view of those who think a completely free market will evolve into a flourishing and just society. There is a basic debate about the importance of the character of the citizens in any polity. Marxists say they are entangled.
Good citizens need civic virtues of loyalty, independence, diligence, respect, etc. [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Galston says responsible citizenship requires four types of civic virtue: general (law-abiding, loyal), social (independent, open-minded), economic (diligent, restrained, adaptable), and political (respect, sensible, judgement, engagement).
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: [Galston's 'Liberal Purposes' 1991] (compressed) This immediately seems to be asking too much, especially for those who know little, or are short of money.
Liberals accept that people need society, but Aristotelians must show that they need political activity [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: To defend Aristotelian republicanism it is not enough to show that individual require society - liberals do not deny this. They must also show that individuals need to be politically active.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: Interesting. People are not just inactive because they have been rendered powerless. In any group of people there are some who are keen to have a voice, or lead, and others who are largely happy to follow.
Minimal liberal citizenship needs common civility, as well as mere non-interference [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Minimal citizenship is often seen as simply requiring non-interference with others, but that ignores a basic requirement of liberal citizenship, which is the social virtue of 'civility' or 'decency'.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: He makes the point that the minimal requirement has to be given up when there is a crisis, which needs much more involvement. This largely describes modern Britain, prior to the Brexit rift.
Modern non-discrimination obliges modern citizens to treat each other as equals [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: The extension of non-discrimination from government to civil society …involves a radical extension of the obligations of liberal citizenship. The obligation to treat people as equal citizens now applies to everyday decisions.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: This is very difficult for an older generation who felt their 'entitlement' as leading citizens, or who routinely favoured their local traditional community. But they just have to 'get over it'!
The right wing sees citizenship in terms of responsibility to earn a living, rather than rights [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: According to the New Right, to promote active citizenship-for-all or entitlements, we must focus instead on people's responsibility to earn a living.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: Every creature has to earn a living, but one method is to successfully sponge off others. A cushy job is a sort of sponging. An excessively well paid job is a sort of sponging. Citizenship must involve responsibilities of some sort.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy
Modern democratic theory focuses on talk, not votes, because we need consensus or compromise [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Modern discussion has shifted from 'vote-centric' (or 'aggregative') to 'talk-centric' democracy. The vote-centric model has no mechanism for developing a consensus, or shaping public opinion, or even formulating an honourable compromise.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: I'm struck by the fact that a person's preferences betweent these two is a reflection of character, or basic attitudes to morality. Some people think democratically about their relationships, and others very obviously don't.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / a. Liberalism basics
In a liberal democracy all subjects of authority have a right to determine the authority [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: A liberal-democratic system is one in which those people who are subject to political authority have a right to participate in determining that authority.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.4)
     A reaction: This applies to immigrants. The most anti-democratic move in recent democracies is the strategy of trying to make it more difficult to vote, perhaps by demanding identification documents, or creating huge queues.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / b. Liberal individualism
We have become attached to private life because that has become greatly enriched [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Our attachment to private life, I believe, is the result not (or not only) of the impoverishment of public life, but the enrichment of private life.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 7)
     A reaction: Interesting. Perhaps a sentiment expected more from a university lecturer than from a poorly-paid labourer. Does he mean watching innumerable TV shows instead of having sing-songs in the local pub? Increased leisure is indisputable.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / e. Liberal community
Liberals must avoid an official culture, as well as an official religion [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Just as liberalism precludes the establishment of an official religion, so too there cannot be official cultures that have preferred status.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.3)
     A reaction: This becomes tricky in schools, where the old way of teaching national literature and particular types of music has been eroded in modern times. But once wide diversity is allowed there is no single story which can be taught.
Liberals need more than freedom; they must build a nation, through a language and institutions [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Liberals need to replace the idea of 'benign neglect', and recognise the central role of nation-building in a democracy. …This means promoting a common language, and equal access to institutions operating in that language.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.3)
     A reaction: 'Benign neglect' is non-interference with citizens' lives. Obviously the institutions include education, but is a state health service implied? Can equal access by guaranteed to private institutions?
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / f. Multiculturalism
Some individuals can gain citizenship as part of a group, rather than as mere individuals [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: On the view of 'differentiated citizenship', members of certain groups would be incorporated into the community, not only as individuals, but also through the group, and their rights would depend in part on their group membership.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
     A reaction: This is obviously a strategy to enable marginalised individuals to be fully included in society. The downside is that individuals gain their social identity through a label, rather than through themselves, which pure liberals dislike. 'Identity politics'.
The status hierarchy is independent of the economic hierarchy [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: The evidence suggests that (contrary to the Marxist view) the status hierarchy is not reducible to the economic hierarchy.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
     A reaction: Kymlicka is particularly thinking of racism, which lowers the status of certain groups, even if they are economically successful. I console myself for my modest economic status by getting lots of education.
Some multiculturalists defended the rights of cohesive minorities against liberal individualism [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Defending multiculturalism initially involved endorsing the communitarian critique of liberalism, and viewed minority rights as defending cohesive minority groups against the encroachment of liberal individualism.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.1)
     A reaction: Liberal individualists have to accept these criticisms from Marxists, communitarians and multiculturalists. The lone individual has no group that guarantees support, and individuals (especially the young) can easily sink.
'Culturalist' liberals say that even liberal individuals may need minority rights [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: The 'liberal culturalist' position is that minorities which share basic liberal principles nonetheless need minority rights.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.2)
     A reaction: Disabled liberals are an obvious example. This strikes me as a promising version of liberalism, which accepts the criticisms of extreme individualism.
Multiculturalism may entail men dominating women in minority groups [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Many feminists express concern that multiculturalism in practice typically means giving male members of the group the power to control the women in the group.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.2)
     A reaction: The way the young are treated might also be a problem. The underlying question is whether the minority group is more or less civilised than the central state. Liberalism always fights for the rights of the least powerful.
Liberals must prefer minority right which are freedoms, not restrictions [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Liberal defenders of multiculturalism must distinguish 'bad' minority rights which are restrictions from 'good' minority rights which supplement individual rights.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.2)
     A reaction: Presumably no sensible liberal wants to remove all restrictions, so deeper values must be invoked to justify the mode of approved minority rights. A list of human goods seems needed.
Why shouldn't national minorities have their own right to nation-build? [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Why should national minorities not have the same powers of nation-building as the majority?
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.4)
     A reaction: A 'national minority' is marked by a different language, or a different religion, or both. No one doubts the majority's right to nation-build. Some further principle would be needed to deny that right to a minority. Maybe the minority was there first?
Multiculturalism is liberal if it challenges inequality, conservative if it emphasises common good [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Liberal multiculturalism challenges status inequalities while preserving individual freedom. …Conservative multiculturalism replaces liberal principles with a communitarian politics of the common good, at least at the local or group level.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8.6)
     A reaction: [compressed] This sounds a bit simplistic. Recent emphasis on 'the common good', in the face of white supremacists etc., seems admirable, but surely challenging inequalities promotes the common good? Minority cultures are often conservative.
25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 1. Basis of Rights
Rights are a part of nation-building, to build a common national identity and culture [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: Extending citizenship to include common social rights was a tool of nation-building, intended in part to construct and consolidate a sense of common national identity and culture.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
     A reaction: Kymlicka explains a lot of politics and society in terms of the desire of governments to 'build' their nation. You have to make people who are essentially powerless feel that they are at least in some way involved, and benefiting.
Rights derived from group membership are opposed to the idea of state citizenship [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: The organisation of society on the basis of rights or claims that derive from group membership is sharply opposed to the concept of society based on citizenship.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
     A reaction: [from John Porter 1987] Does this imply that you might have rights as part of a group which you don't have as a state citizen? Positive discrimination, for example. Differential rights sounds like potential trouble.
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 3. Welfare provision
The welfare state helps to integrate the working classes into a national culture [Kymlicka]
     Full Idea: The development of the welfare state has been quite successful in integrating the working classes into national cultures throughout the Western democracies.
     From: Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
     A reaction: Hard-line capitalists tend to hate the welfare state, as unfair to high earners, but it not only makes workers feel involved, but also provides a healthier, happier, more knowledgeable work force for employers.
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space
Maybe space has points, but processes always need regions with a size [Mares]
     Full Idea: One theory is that space is made up of dimensionless points, but physical processes cannot take place in regions of less than a certain size.
     From: Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 06.7)
     A reaction: Thinkers in sympathy with verificationism presumably won't like this, and may prefer Feynman's view.