14 ideas
| 21642 | If quantification is all substitutional, there is no ontology [Quine] |
| 1633 | Absolute ontological questions are meaningless, because the answers are circular definitions [Quine] |
| 18964 | Ontology is relative to both a background theory and a translation manual [Quine] |
| 18965 | We know what things are by distinguishing them, so identity is part of ontology [Quine] |
| 6375 | The taste of chocolate is a 'finer-grained' sensation than the taste of sweetness [Polger] |
| 1556 | By nature people are close to one another, but culture drives them apart [Hippias] |
| 1634 | Two things are relative - the background theory, and translating the object theory into the background theory [Quine] |
| 6381 | The mind and the self are one, and the mind-self is a biological phenomenon [Polger] |
| 6378 | Teleological functions explain why a trait exists; causal-role functions say what it does [Polger] |
| 6380 | Identity theory says consciousness is an abstraction: a state, event, process or property [Polger] |
| 8470 | Reference is inscrutable, because we cannot choose between theories of numbers [Quine, by Orenstein] |
| 18963 | Indeterminacy translating 'rabbit' depends on translating individuation terms [Quine] |
| 6379 | A mummified heart has the teleological function of circulating blood [Polger] |
| 6377 | Teleological notions of function say what a thing is supposed to do [Polger] |