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All the ideas for 'works', 'Individuals:Essay in Descript Metaphysics' and 'A Powers Theory of Modality'

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61 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 1. Nature of Metaphysics
Descriptive metaphysics aims at actual structure, revisionary metaphysics at a better structure [Strawson,P]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 6. Metaphysics as Conceptual
Descriptive metaphysics concerns unchanging core concepts and categories [Strawson,P]
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 5. Linguistic Analysis
Close examination of actual word usage is the only sure way in philosophy [Strawson,P]
3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 11. Truthmaking and Correspondence
Unlike correspondence, truthmaking can be one truth to many truthmakers, or vice versa [Jacobs]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 1. Set Theory
Trying to represent curves, we study arbitrary functions, leading to the ordinals, which produces set theory [Cantor, by Lavine]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 2. Mechanics of Set Theory / c. Basic theorems of ST
Cantor's Theorem: for any set x, its power set P(x) has more members than x [Cantor, by Hart,WD]
Cantor proved that all sets have more subsets than they have members [Cantor, by Bostock]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 3. Types of Set / c. Unit (Singleton) Sets
If a set is 'a many thought of as one', beginners should protest against singleton sets [Cantor, by Lewis]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 3. Types of Set / d. Infinite Sets
Cantor showed that supposed contradictions in infinity were just a lack of clarity [Cantor, by Potter]
The continuum is the powerset of the integers, which moves up a level [Cantor, by Clegg]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / d. Axiom of Unions III
The Axiom of Union dates from 1899, and seems fairly obvious [Cantor, by Maddy]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 5. Conceptions of Set / b. Combinatorial sets
Cantor's sets were just collections, but Dedekind's were containers [Cantor, by Oliver/Smiley]
5. Theory of Logic / K. Features of Logics / 8. Enumerability
There are infinite sets that are not enumerable [Cantor, by Smith,P]
5. Theory of Logic / L. Paradox / 5. Paradoxes in Set Theory / b. Cantor's paradox
Cantor's Paradox: the power set of the universe must be bigger than the universe, yet a subset of it [Cantor, by Hart,WD]
5. Theory of Logic / L. Paradox / 5. Paradoxes in Set Theory / e. Mirimanoff's paradox
The powerset of all the cardinal numbers is required to be greater than itself [Cantor, by Friend]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 1. Mathematics
Cantor named the third realm between the finite and the Absolute the 'transfinite' [Cantor, by Lavine]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / b. Types of number
Cantor proved the points on a plane are in one-to-one correspondence to the points on a line [Cantor, by Lavine]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / c. Priority of numbers
Cantor took the ordinal numbers to be primary [Cantor, by Tait]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / d. Natural numbers
Cantor presented the totality of natural numbers as finite, not infinite [Cantor, by Mayberry]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / e. Ordinal numbers
Cantor introduced the distinction between cardinals and ordinals [Cantor, by Tait]
Cantor showed that ordinals are more basic than cardinals [Cantor, by Dummett]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / f. Cardinal numbers
A cardinal is an abstraction, from the nature of a set's elements, and from their order [Cantor]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / g. Real numbers
Cantor tried to prove points on a line matched naturals or reals - but nothing in between [Cantor, by Lavine]
Cantor's diagonal argument proved you can't list all decimal numbers between 0 and 1 [Cantor, by Read]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / h. Reals from Cauchy
A real is associated with an infinite set of infinite Cauchy sequences of rationals [Cantor, by Lavine]
Irrational numbers are the limits of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers [Cantor, by Lavine]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / a. The Infinite
Irrationals and the Dedekind Cut implied infinite classes, but they seemed to have logical difficulties [Cantor, by Lavine]
It was Cantor's diagonal argument which revealed infinities greater than that of the real numbers [Cantor, by Lavine]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / d. Actual infinite
Cantor proposes that there won't be a potential infinity if there is no actual infinity [Cantor, by Hart,WD]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / f. Uncountable infinities
The naturals won't map onto the reals, so there are different sizes of infinity [Cantor, by George/Velleman]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / g. Continuum Hypothesis
The Continuum Hypothesis says there are no sets between the natural numbers and reals [Cantor, by Shapiro]
CH: An infinite set of reals corresponds 1-1 either to the naturals or to the reals [Cantor, by Koellner]
Cantor: there is no size between naturals and reals, or between a set and its power set [Cantor, by Hart,WD]
Cantor's Continuum Hypothesis says there is a gap between the natural and the real numbers [Cantor, by Horsten]
Continuum Hypothesis: there are no sets between N and P(N) [Cantor, by Wolf,RS]
Continuum Hypothesis: no cardinal greater than aleph-null but less than cardinality of the continuum [Cantor, by Chihara]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / h. Ordinal infinity
Cantor extended ordinals into the transfinite, and they can thus measure infinite cardinalities [Cantor, by Maddy]
Cantor's theory concerns collections which can be counted, using the ordinals [Cantor, by Lavine]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / i. Cardinal infinity
Cardinality strictly concerns one-one correspondence, to test infinite sameness of size [Cantor, by Maddy]
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 5. Definitions of Number / e. Caesar problem
Property extensions outstrip objects, so shortage of objects caused the Caesar problem [Cantor, by Shapiro]
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 6. Mathematics as Set Theory / a. Mathematics is set theory
Pure mathematics is pure set theory [Cantor]
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / a. Mathematical empiricism
Cantor says that maths originates only by abstraction from objects [Cantor, by Frege]
8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 3. Structural Relations
If structures result from intrinsic natures of properties, the 'relations' between them can drop out [Jacobs]
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 1. Powers
Science aims at identifying the structure and nature of the powers that exist [Jacobs]
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic
Powers come from concrete particulars, not from the laws of nature [Jacobs]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 10. Impossibility
Possibilities are manifestations of some power, and impossibilies rest on no powers [Jacobs]
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility
States of affairs are only possible if some substance could initiate a causal chain to get there [Jacobs]
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 9. Counterfactuals
Counterfactuals invite us to consider the powers picked out by the antecedent [Jacobs]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 1. Sources of Necessity
Possible worlds are just not suitable truthmakers for modality [Jacobs]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 5. Modality from Actuality
All modality is in the properties and relations of the actual world [Jacobs]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 6. Necessity from Essence
We can base counterfactuals on powers, not possible worlds, and hence define necessity [Jacobs]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / c. Possible worlds realism
Concrete worlds, unlike fictions, at least offer evidence of how the actual world could be [Jacobs]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / e. Against possible worlds
If some book described a possibe life for you, that isn't what makes such a life possible [Jacobs]
Possible worlds semantics gives little insight into modality [Jacobs]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 4. Other Minds / d. Other minds by analogy
I can only apply consciousness predicates to myself if I can apply them to others [Strawson,P]
16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 7. Self and Body / a. Self needs body
A person is an entity to which we can ascribe predicates of consciousness and corporeality [Strawson,P]
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 1. Concepts / a. Nature of concepts
Infinities expand the bounds of the conceivable; we explore concepts to explore conceivability [Cantor, by Friend]
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 2. Abstracta by Selection
Cantor says (vaguely) that we abstract numbers from equal sized sets [Hart,WD on Cantor]
19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 3. Predicates
The idea of a predicate matches a range of things to which it can be applied [Strawson,P]
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space
Cantor proved that three dimensions have the same number of points as one dimension [Cantor, by Clegg]
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 2. Divine Nature
Only God is absolutely infinite [Cantor, by Hart,WD]