54 ideas
17082 | Paradox: why do you analyse if you know it, and how do you analyse if you don't? [Ruben] |
18074 | Intuitionists rely on assertability instead of truth, but assertability relies on truth [Kitcher] |
6298 | Kitcher says maths is an idealisation of the world, and our operations in dealing with it [Kitcher, by Resnik] |
12392 | Mathematical a priorism is conceptualist, constructivist or realist [Kitcher] |
18078 | The interest or beauty of mathematics is when it uses current knowledge to advance undestanding [Kitcher] |
12426 | The 'beauty' or 'interest' of mathematics is just explanatory power [Kitcher] |
12395 | Real numbers stand to measurement as natural numbers stand to counting [Kitcher] |
12425 | Complex numbers were only accepted when a geometrical model for them was found [Kitcher] |
18071 | A one-operation is the segregation of a single object [Kitcher] |
18066 | The old view is that mathematics is useful in the world because it describes the world [Kitcher] |
18083 | With infinitesimals, you divide by the time, then set the time to zero [Kitcher] |
18061 | Mathematical intuition is not the type platonism needs [Kitcher] |
12420 | If mathematics comes through intuition, that is either inexplicable, or too subjective [Kitcher] |
12393 | Intuition is no basis for securing a priori knowledge, because it is fallible [Kitcher] |
12387 | Mathematical knowledge arises from basic perception [Kitcher] |
12412 | My constructivism is mathematics as an idealization of collecting and ordering objects [Kitcher] |
18065 | We derive limited mathematics from ordinary things, and erect powerful theories on their basis [Kitcher] |
18077 | The defenders of complex numbers had to show that they could be expressed in physical terms [Kitcher] |
12423 | Analyticity avoids abstract entities, but can there be truth without reference? [Kitcher] |
18068 | Arithmetic is made true by the world, but is also made true by our constructions [Kitcher] |
18069 | Arithmetic is an idealizing theory [Kitcher] |
18070 | We develop a language for correlations, and use it to perform higher level operations [Kitcher] |
18072 | Constructivism is ontological (that it is the work of an agent) and epistemological (knowable a priori) [Kitcher] |
18063 | Conceptualists say we know mathematics a priori by possessing mathematical concepts [Kitcher] |
18064 | If meaning makes mathematics true, you still need to say what the meanings refer to [Kitcher] |
18067 | Abstract objects were a bad way of explaining the structure in mathematics [Kitcher] |
12390 | A priori knowledge comes from available a priori warrants that produce truth [Kitcher] |
12418 | In long mathematical proofs we can't remember the original a priori basis [Kitcher] |
12389 | Knowledge is a priori if the experience giving you the concepts thus gives you the knowledge [Kitcher] |
12416 | We have some self-knowledge a priori, such as knowledge of our own existence [Kitcher] |
12413 | A 'warrant' is a process which ensures that a true belief is knowledge [Kitcher] |
20473 | If experiential can defeat a belief, then its justification depends on the defeater's absence [Kitcher, by Casullo] |
17087 | The 'symmetry thesis' says explanation and prediction only differ pragmatically [Ruben] |
17081 | Usually explanations just involve giving information, with no reference to the act of explanation [Ruben] |
17092 | An explanation needs the world to have an appropriate structure [Ruben] |
17090 | Most explanations are just sentences, not arguments [Ruben] |
17094 | The causal theory of explanation neglects determinations which are not causal [Ruben] |
17088 | Reducing one science to another is often said to be the perfect explanation [Ruben] |
17089 | Facts explain facts, but only if they are conceptualised or named appropriately [Ruben] |
18075 | Idealisation trades off accuracy for simplicity, in varying degrees [Kitcher] |
21059 | General rules of action also need a judgement about when to apply them [Kant] |
21061 | Duty does not aim at an end, but gives rise to universal happiness as aim of the will [Kant] |
21060 | It can't be a duty to strive after the impossible [Kant] |
21062 | The will's motive is the absolute law itself, and moral feeling is receptivity to law [Kant] |
21071 | There can be no restraints on freedom if reason does not reveal some basic rights [Kant] |
21063 | Personal contracts are for some end, but a civil state contract involves a duty to share [Kant] |
21068 | There must be a unanimous contract that citizens accept majority decisions [Kant] |
21069 | A contract is theoretical, but it can guide rulers to make laws which the whole people will accept [Kant] |
21070 | A law is unjust if the whole people could not possibly agree to it [Kant] |
21067 | A citizen must control his own life, and possess property or an important skill [Kant] |
21064 | A lawful civil state must embody freedom, equality and independence for its members [Kant] |
21066 | Citizens can rise to any rank that talent, effort and luck can achieve [Kant] |
21065 | You can't make a contract renouncing your right to make contracts! [Kant] |
21072 | The people (who have to fight) and not the head of state should declare a war [Kant] |