53 ideas
13567 | Ontology should give insight into or an explanation of the world revealed by science [Ellis] |
13604 | Real possibility and necessity has the logic of S5, which links equivalence classes of worlds of the same kind [Ellis] |
21122 | Liberal Nationalism says welfare states and democracy needed a shared sense of nationality [Shorten] |
13606 | Humean conceptions of reality drive the adoption of extensional logic [Ellis] |
13584 | The extension of a property is a contingent fact, so cannot be the essence of the property [Ellis] |
13587 | There is no property of 'fragility', as things are each fragile in a distinctive way [Ellis] |
13577 | Typical 'categorical' properties are spatio-temporal, such as shape [Ellis] |
9436 | The property of 'being an electron' is not of anything, and only electrons could have it [Ellis] |
13582 | 'Being a methane molecule' is not a property - it is just a predicate [Ellis] |
13580 | Causal powers must necessarily act the way they do [Ellis] |
13598 | Causal powers are often directional (e.g. centripetal, centrifugal, circulatory) [Ellis] |
13568 | Basic powers may not be explained by structure, if at the bottom level there is no structure [Ellis] |
13586 | Maybe dispositions can be explained by intrinsic properties or structures [Ellis] |
13585 | The most fundamental properties of nature (mass, charge, spin ...) all seem to be dispositions [Ellis] |
13596 | A causal power is a disposition to produce forces [Ellis] |
13599 | Powers are dispositions of the essences of kinds that involve them in causation [Ellis] |
13572 | There are 'substantive' (objects of some kind), 'dynamic' (events of some kind) and 'property' universals [Ellis] |
13573 | Universals are all types of natural kind [Ellis] |
13571 | Scientific essentialism doesn't really need Kripkean individual essences [Ellis] |
13578 | The old idea that identity depends on essence and behaviour is rejected by the empiricists [Ellis] |
13576 | Necessities are distinguished by their grounds, not their different modalities [Ellis] |
13570 | Individual essences necessitate that individual; natural kind essences necessitate kind membership [Ellis] |
13607 | If events are unconnected, then induction cannot be solved [Ellis] |
13597 | Good explanations unify [Ellis] |
13601 | Explanations of particular events are not essentialist, as they don't reveal essential structures [Ellis] |
13569 | To give essentialist explanations there have to be natural kinds [Ellis] |
13600 | The point of models in theories is not to idealise, but to focus on what is essential [Ellis] |
21136 | Utilitarians conflate acts and omissions; causing to drown and failing to save are the same [Shorten] |
468 | Musical performance can reveal a range of virtues [Damon of Ath.] |
21135 | There are eight different ways in which groups of people can be oppressed [Shorten, by PG] |
21118 | Constitutional Patriotism unites around political values (rather than national identity) [Shorten] |
21129 | Democracy is a method of selection, or it involves participation, or it concerns public discussion [Shorten] |
21130 | Some say democracy is intrinsically valuable, others that it delivers good outcomes [Shorten] |
21126 | Representative should be either obedient, or sensible, or typical [Shorten] |
21128 | There is 'mirror representation' when the institution statistically reflects the population [Shorten] |
21127 | In a changed situation a Mandated Representative can't keep promises and fight for constituents [Shorten] |
21117 | Liberal citizens have a moral requirement to respect freedom and equality [Shorten] |
21134 | Maybe the rational autonomous liberal individual is merely the result of domination [Shorten] |
21113 | Liberal equality concerns rights, and liberal freedom concerns choice of ends [Shorten] |
21121 | Liberal Nationalism encourages the promotion of nationalistic values [Shorten] |
21115 | Liberalism should not make assumptions such as the value of choosing your own life plan [Shorten] |
21114 | Liberals treat individuals as mutual strangers, rather than as social beings [Shorten] |
21123 | Liberal Nationalism is more communitarian, and Constitutional Patriotism more cosmopolitan [Shorten] |
21124 | Religious toleration has been institutionalised by the separation of church and state [Shorten] |
13583 | There might be uninstantiated natural kinds, such as transuranic elements which have never occurred [Ellis] |
13574 | Natural kinds are distinguished by resting on essences [Ellis] |
13575 | If there are borderline cases between natural kinds, that makes them superficial [Ellis] |
13595 | Laws don't exist in the world; they are true of the world [Ellis] |
13566 | A proton must have its causal role, because without it it wouldn't be a proton [Ellis] |
13579 | What is most distinctive of scientific essentialism is regarding processes as natural kinds [Ellis] |
13581 | Scientific essentialism is more concerned with explanation than with identity (Locke, not Kripke) [Ellis] |
13594 | The ontological fundamentals are dispositions, and also categorical (spatio-temporal and structural) properties [Ellis] |
13603 | A primary aim of science is to show the limits of the possible [Ellis] |