Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'A Slim Book about Narrow Content', 'Theory of Knowledge (2nd edn)' and 'How to be a Liberal'

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25 ideas

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 4. Later European Philosophy / b. Seventeenth century philosophy
Most philosophers start with reality and then examine knowledge; Descartes put the study of knowledge first [Lehrer]
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 4. Conceptual Analysis
You cannot demand an analysis of a concept without knowing the purpose of the analysis [Lehrer]
1. Philosophy / G. Scientific Philosophy / 1. Aims of Science
Science is in the business of carving nature at the joints [Segal]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 8. Naturalising Reason
Psychology studies the way rationality links desires and beliefs to causality [Segal]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 5. Metaphysical Necessity
Is 'Hesperus = Phosphorus' metaphysically necessary, but not logically or epistemologically necessary? [Segal]
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 4. Conceivable as Possible / b. Conceivable but impossible
If claims of metaphysical necessity are based on conceivability, we should be cautious [Segal]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 3. Best Explanation / c. Against best explanation
The success and virtue of an explanation do not guarantee its truth [Segal]
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 4. Folk Psychology
Folk psychology is ridiculously dualist in its assumptions [Segal]
18. Thought / C. Content / 5. Twin Earth
If 'water' has narrow content, it refers to both H2O and XYZ [Segal]
Humans are made of H2O, so 'twins' aren't actually feasible [Segal]
Externalists can't assume old words refer to modern natural kinds [Segal]
18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content
If content is external, so are beliefs and desires [Segal]
Must we relate to some diamonds to understand them? [Segal]
Externalism can't explain concepts that have no reference [Segal]
Maybe content involves relations to a language community [Segal]
Concepts can survive a big change in extension [Segal]
Maybe experts fix content, not ordinary users [Segal]
18. Thought / C. Content / 7. Narrow Content
If content is narrow, my perfect twin shares my concepts [Segal]
18. Thought / C. Content / 10. Causal Semantics
If thoughts ARE causal, we can't explain how they cause things [Segal]
Even 'mass' cannot be defined in causal terms [Segal]
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / d. General will
In 1794 France all individual and legal rights were suppressed by the general will [Dunt]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / a. Liberalism basics
Over several centuries a set of eight main liberal values was established [Dunt]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / d. Liberal freedom
No government, or the whole nation, can control an individual beyond legitimate scope [Dunt]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / g. Liberalism critique
Laissez-faire liberalism failed to give people the protections and freedoms needed for a good life [Dunt]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 14. Nationalism
Nationalism pretends that we can only have a single identity [Dunt]