29 ideas
13007 | Archimedes defined a straight line as the shortest distance between two points [Archimedes, by Leibniz] |
17000 | We might fix identities for small particulars, but it is utopian to hope for such things [Kripke] |
11868 | A different piece of wood could have been used for that table; constitution isn't identity [Wiggins on Kripke] |
17044 | A relation can clearly be reflexive, and identity is the smallest reflexive relation [Kripke] |
16999 | A vague identity may seem intransitive, and we might want to talk of 'counterparts' [Kripke] |
17058 | What many people consider merely physically necessary I consider completely necessary [Kripke] |
4970 | What is often held to be mere physical necessity is actually metaphysical necessity [Kripke] |
17059 | Unicorns are vague, so no actual or possible creature could count as a unicorn [Kripke] |
4950 | Possible worlds are useful in set theory, but can be very misleading elsewhere [Kripke] |
17003 | Kaplan's 'Dthat' is a useful operator for transforming a description into a rigid designation [Kripke] |
9221 | The best known objection to counterparts is Kripke's, that Humphrey doesn't care if his counterpart wins [Kripke, by Sider] |
17052 | The a priori analytic truths involving fixing of reference are contingent [Kripke] |
4969 | I regard the mind-body problem as wide open, and extremely confusing [Kripke] |
4956 | A description may fix a reference even when it is not true of its object [Kripke] |
17032 | Even if Gödel didn't produce his theorems, he's still called 'Gödel' [Kripke] |
21202 | The strong force has a considerably greater range than the weak force [Martin,BR] |
21211 | If an expected reaction does not occur, that implies a conservation law [Martin,BR] |
21209 | Electron emit and reabsorb photons, which create and reabsorb virtual electrons and positrons [Martin,BR] |
21201 | A 'field' is just a region to which points can be assigned in space and time [Martin,BR] |
21212 | The Higgs field, unlike others, has a nozero value in a state without particles [Martin,BR] |
21205 | Many physicists believe particles have further structure, if only we could see it [Martin,BR] |
21203 | Uncertainty allows very brief violations of energy conservation - even shorter with higher energies [Martin,BR] |
21207 | The Exclusion Principle says no two fermions occupy the same state, with the same numbers [Martin,BR] |
21204 | The standard model combines theories of strong interaction, and electromagnetic and weak interaction [Martin,BR] |
21208 | Eletrons don't literally 'spin', because they are point-like [Martin,BR] |
21210 | Virtual particles surround any charged particle [Martin,BR] |
21206 | The properties of a particle are determined by its quantum numbers and its mass [Martin,BR] |
21213 | String theory only has one free parameter (tension) - unlike the standard model with 19 [Martin,BR] |
21200 | An 'element' is what cannot be decomposed by chemistry [Martin,BR] |