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All the ideas for 'Every Thing Must Go', 'Critique of Pure Reason' and 'The Metaphysics of Properties'

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308 ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 1. Nature of Wisdom
Cleverness is shown in knowing what can reasonably be asked [Kant]
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 5. Aims of Philosophy / e. Philosophy as reason
Reason is only interested in knowledge, actions and hopes [Kant]
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
In ordinary life the highest philosophy is no better than common understanding [Kant]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 1. Nature of Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a systematic account of everything that can be known a priori [Kant]
A metaphysics has an ontology (objects) and an ideology (expressed ideas about them) [Oliver]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 2. Possibility of Metaphysics
Kant turned metaphysics into epistemology, ignoring Aristotle's 'being qua being' [Kant, by Macdonald,C]
Metaphysics might do better to match objects to our cognition (and not start with the objects) [Kant]
You just can't stop metaphysical speculation, in any mature mind [Kant]
The voyage of reason may go only as far as the coastline of experience reaches [Kant]
There is no test for metaphysics, except devising alternative theories [Ladyman/Ross]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 3. Metaphysical Systems
It is still possible to largely accept Kant as a whole (where others must be dismantled) [Kant, by Gardner]
Human reason considers all knowledge as belonging to a possible system [Kant]
Reason has two separate objects, morality and freedom, and nature, which ultimately unite [Kant]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 4. Metaphysics as Science
Metaphysics builds consilience networks across science [Ladyman/Ross]
Progress in metaphysics must be tied to progress in science [Ladyman/Ross]
Metaphysics must involve at least two scientific hypotheses, one fundamental, and add to explanation [Ladyman/Ross]
Some science is so general that it is metaphysical [Ladyman/Ross]
Cutting-edge physics has little to offer metaphysics [Ladyman/Ross]
The aim of metaphysics is to unite the special sciences with physics [Ladyman/Ross]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 5. Metaphysics beyond Science
Kant showed that theoretical reason cannot give answers to speculative metaphysics [Kant, by Korsgaard]
A priori metaphysics is fond of basic unchanging entities like God, the soul, Forms, atoms… [Kant, by Fogelin]
A dove cutting through the air, might think it could fly better in airless space (which Plato attempted) [Kant]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 6. Metaphysics as Conceptual
Modern metaphysics pursues aesthetic criteria like story-writing, and abandons scientific truth [Ladyman/Ross]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 7. Against Metaphysics
Kant exposed the illusions of reason in the Transcendental Dialectic [Kant, by Fraassen]
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 4. Conceptual Analysis
Analysis is becoming self-conscious about our concepts [Kant]
Our reason mostly analyses concepts we already have of objects [Kant]
Analysis of our concepts is merely a preparation for proper a priori metaphysics [Kant]
Why think that conceptual analysis reveals reality, rather than just how people think? [Ladyman/Ross]
1. Philosophy / G. Scientific Philosophy / 3. Scientism
A metaphysics based on quantum gravity could result in almost anything [Ladyman/Ross]
The supremacy of science rests on its iterated error filters [Ladyman/Ross]
We should abandon intuitions, especially that the world is made of little things, and made of something [Ladyman/Ross]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 1. On Reason
The boundaries of reason can only be determined a priori [Kant]
In reason things can only begin if they are voluntary [Kant]
If I know the earth is a sphere, and I am on it, I can work out its area from a small part [Kant]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 3. Pure Reason
Pure reason deals with concepts in the understanding, not with objects [Kant]
Reason hates to be limited in its speculations [Kant]
Pure reason exists outside of time [Kant]
Pure reason is only concerned with itself because it deals with understandings, not objects [Kant]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 4. Aims of Reason
Religion and legislation can only be respected if they accept free and public examination [Kant]
All objections are dogmatic (against propositions), or critical (against proofs), or sceptical [Kant]
Reason keeps asking why until explanation is complete [Kant, by Korsgaard]
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 2. Sufficient Reason
The principle of sufficient reason is the ground of possible experience in time [Kant]
Proof of the principle of sufficient reason cannot be found [Kant]
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor
Ockham's Razor has more content if it says believe only in what is causal [Oliver]
2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 1. Dialectic
The free dialectic opposition of arguments is an invaluable part of the sceptical method [Kant]
2. Reason / D. Definition / 2. Aims of Definition
Definitions exhibit the exhaustive concept of a thing within its boundaries [Kant]
2. Reason / D. Definition / 13. Against Definition
No a priori concept can be defined [Kant]
2. Reason / E. Argument / 2. Transcendental Argument
'Transcendent' is beyond experience, and 'transcendental' is concealed within experience [Kant, by Potter]
Transcendental ideas require unity of the subject, conditions of appearance, and objects of thought [Kant]
Transcendental cognition is that a priori thought which shows how the a priori is applicable or possible [Kant]
2. Reason / E. Argument / 3. Analogy
Philosophical examples rarely fit rules properly, and lead to inflexibility [Kant]
3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 7. Making Modal Truths
Necessary truths seem to all have the same truth-maker [Oliver]
3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 12. Rejecting Truthmakers
Slingshot Argument: seems to prove that all sentences have the same truth-maker [Oliver]
3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth
We must presuppose that truth is agreement of cognition with its objects [Kant]
4. Formal Logic / B. Propositional Logic PL / 2. Tools of Propositional Logic / e. Axioms of PL
Philosophy has no axioms, as it is just rational cognition of concepts [Kant]
5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 1. Overview of Logic
Logic has precise boundaries, and is the formal rules for all thinking [Kant]
5. Theory of Logic / C. Ontology of Logic / 1. Ontology of Logic
Maybe mathematical logic rests on information-processing [Ladyman/Ross]
5. Theory of Logic / I. Semantics of Logic / 2. Formal Truth
There must be a general content-free account of truth in the rules of logic [Kant]
5. Theory of Logic / L. Paradox / 3. Antinomies
The battle of the antinomies is usually won by the attacker, and lost by any defender [Kant]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 2. Geometry
Geometry would just be an idle game without its connection to our intuition [Kant]
Geometrical truth comes from a general schema abstracted from a particular object [Kant, by Burge]
Geometry studies the Euclidean space that dictates how we perceive things [Kant, by Shapiro]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / c. Potential infinite
Kant only accepts potential infinity, not actual infinity [Kant, by Brown,JR]
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 3. Axioms for Geometry
Euclid's could be the only viable geometry, if rejection of the parallel line postulate doesn't lead to a contradiction [Benardete,JA on Kant]
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 4. Axioms for Number / a. Axioms for numbers
Kant suggested that arithmetic has no axioms [Kant, by Shapiro]
Axioms ought to be synthetic a priori propositions [Kant]
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 2. Intuition of Mathematics
Kant's intuitions struggle to judge relevance, impossibility and exactness [Kitcher on Kant]
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / a. Mathematical empiricism
Maths is a priori, but without its relation to empirical objects it is meaningless [Kant]
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 6. Logicism / d. Logicism critique
Kant taught that mathematics is independent of logic, and cannot be grounded in it [Kant, by Hilbert]
If 7+5=12 is analytic, then an infinity of other ways to reach 12 have to be analytic [Kant, by Dancy,J]
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 1. Nature of Existence
Saying a thing 'is' adds nothing to it - otherwise if my concept exists, it isn't the same as my concept [Kant]
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 6. Criterion for Existence
Only admit into ontology what is explanatory and predictive [Ladyman/Ross]
To be is to be a real pattern [Ladyman/Ross]
7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 2. Processes
Any process can be described as transfer of measurable information [Ladyman/Ross]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 6. Fundamentals / a. Fundamental reality
We say there is no fundamental level to ontology, and reality is just patterns [Ladyman/Ross]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 7. Abstract/Concrete / a. Abstract/concrete
If concrete is spatio-temporal and causal, and abstract isn't, the distinction doesn't suit physics [Ladyman/Ross]
Concrete and abstract are too crude for modern physics [Ladyman/Ross]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 2. Realism
Kant is read as the phenomena being 'contrained' by the noumenon, or 'free-floating' [Talbot on Kant]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 4. Anti-realism
Without the subject or the senses, space and time vanish, as their appearances disappear [Kant]
Even the most perfect intuition gets no closer to things in themselves [Kant]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 6. Physicalism
Physicalism is 'part-whole' (all parts are physical), or 'supervenience/levels' (dependence on physical) [Ladyman/Ross]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / c. Commitment of predicates
Accepting properties by ontological commitment tells you very little about them [Oliver]
Reference is not the only way for a predicate to have ontological commitment [Oliver]
7. Existence / E. Categories / 1. Categories
Categories are general concepts of objects, which determine the way in which they are experienced [Kant]
Categories are necessary, so can't be implanted in us to agree with natural laws [Kant]
7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them? [Rowlands on Kant]
8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 1. Nature of Relations
Relations without relata must be treated as universals, with their own formal properties [Ladyman/Ross]
A belief in relations must be a belief in things that are related [Ladyman/Ross]
8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 2. Internal Relations
The normal assumption is that relations depend on properties of the relata [Ladyman/Ross]
8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 3. Structural Relations
That there are existent structures not made of entities is no stranger than the theory of universals [Ladyman/Ross]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 1. Nature of Properties
There are four conditions defining the relations between particulars and properties [Oliver]
If properties are sui generis, are they abstract or concrete? [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 2. Need for Properties
There are just as many properties as the laws require [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 3. Types of Properties
We have four options, depending whether particulars and properties are sui generis or constructions [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 5. Natural Properties
Causal essentialism says properties are nothing but causal relations [Ladyman/Ross]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 10. Properties as Predicates
The expressions with properties as their meanings are predicates and abstract singular terms [Oliver]
There are five main semantic theories for properties [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / a. Nature of tropes
Tropes are not properties, since they can't be instantiated twice [Oliver]
The property of redness is the maximal set of the tropes of exactly similar redness [Oliver]
The orthodox view does not allow for uninstantiated tropes [Oliver]
Maybe concrete particulars are mereological wholes of abstract particulars [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / b. Critique of tropes
Tropes can overlap, and shouldn't be splittable into parts [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 6. Dispositions / e. Dispositions as potential
If science captures the modal structure of things, that explains why its predictions work [Ladyman/Ross]
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 7. Against Powers
Kant claims causal powers are relational rather than intrinsic [Kant, by Bayne]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 1. Universals
'Structural universals' methane and butane are made of the same universals, carbon and hydrogen [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 3. Instantiated Universals
If universals ground similarities, what about uniquely instantiated universals? [Oliver]
Located universals are wholly present in many places, and two can be in the same place [Oliver]
Aristotle's instantiated universals cannot account for properties of abstract objects [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 4. Uninstantiated Universals
Uninstantiated universals seem to exist if they themselves have properties [Oliver]
Uninstantiated properties are useful in philosophy [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 6. Platonic Forms / b. Partaking
Instantiation is set-membership [Oliver]
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / a. Nominalism
Nominalism can reject abstractions, or universals, or sets [Oliver]
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 1. Physical Objects
Things are constructs for tracking patterns (and not linguistic, because animals do it) [Ladyman/Ross]
Objects in themselves are not known to us at all [Kant]
The a priori concept of objects in general is the ground of experience [Kant]
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / a. Individuation
Maybe individuation can be explained by thermodynamic depth [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 6. Nihilism about Objects
Physics seems to imply that we must give up self-subsistent individuals [Ladyman/Ross]
There is no single view of individuals, because different sciences operate on different scales [Ladyman/Ross]
There are no cats in quantum theory, and no mountains in astrophysics [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / b. Unifying aggregates
Things can't be fusions of universals, because two things could then be one thing [Oliver]
Abstract sets of universals can't be bundled to make concrete things [Oliver]
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / c. Unity as conceptual
Things are abstractions from structures [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / a. Substance
A substance could exist as a subject, but not as a mere predicate [Kant]
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / d. Substance defined
All appearances need substance, as that which persists through change [Kant]
Substance must exist, as the persisting substratum of the process of change [Kant]
9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 5. Composition of an Object
The idea of composition, that parts of the world are 'made of' something, is no longer helpful [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / c. Wholes from parts
A sum of things is not a whole if the whole does not support some new generalisation [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 13. Nominal Essence
We treat the core of a pattern as an essence, in order to keep track of it [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 1. Objects over Time
An a priori principle of persistence anticipates all experience [Kant]
A continuous object might be a type, with instances at each time [Ladyman/Ross]
9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 7. Indiscernible Objects
The Identity of Indiscernibles is true of concepts with identical properties, but not of particulars [Kant, by Jolley]
If we ignore differences between water drops, we still distinguish them by their location [Kant]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 1. Types of Modality
Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition [Kant]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 7. Natural Necessity
Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances [Kant]
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility
A concept is logically possible if non-contradictory (but may not be actually possible) [Kant]
Is the possible greater than the actual, and the actual greater than the necessary? [Kant]
The analytic mark of possibility is that it does not generate a contradiction [Kant]
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 6. Probability
Quantum mechanics seems to imply single-case probabilities [Ladyman/Ross]
In quantum statistics, two separate classical states of affairs are treated as one [Ladyman/Ross]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 4. Necessity from Concepts
Formal experience conditions show what is possible, and general conditions what is necessary [Kant]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 5. Modality from Actuality
Science is modally committed, to disposition, causation and law [Oliver]
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 1. A Priori Necessary
Kant thought worldly necessities are revealed by what maths needs to make sense [Kant, by Morris,M]
Necessity is always knowable a priori, and what is known a priori is always necessary [Kant, by Schroeter]
For Kant metaphysics must be necessary, so a priori, so can't be justified by experience [Kant, by Maudlin]
Maths must be a priori because it is necessary, and that cannot be derived from experience [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge
Knowledge is threefold: apprehension, reproduction by imagination, recognition by concepts [Kant, by Bowie]
Knowledge begins with intuitions, moves to concepts, and ends with ideas [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding
Kant showed that the understanding (unlike reason) concerns what is finite and conditioned [Kant, by Hegel]
Understanding essentially involves singular elements [Kant, by Burge]
Reason is distinct from understanding, and is the faculty of rules or principles [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / a. Beliefs
Opinion is subjectively and objectively insufficient; belief is subjective but not objective; knowledge is both [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 5. Cogito Critique
'I think therefore I am' is an identity, not an inference (as there is no major premise) [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 2. Phenomenalism
There are possible inhabitants of the moon, but they are just possible experiences [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / a. Idealism
We have no sensual experience of time and space, so they must be 'ideal' [Kant, by Pinkard]
Objects having to be experiencable is not the same as full idealism [Gardner on Kant]
If we disappeared, then all relations of objects, and time and space themselves, disappear too [Kant]
11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / b. Transcendental idealism
In Kantian idealism, objects fit understanding, not vice versa [Kant, by Feuerbach]
Kant's idealism is a limited idealism based on the viewpoint of empiricism [Kant, by Feuerbach]
For Kant experience is either structured like reality, or generates reality's structure [Kant, by Gardner]
The concepts that make judgeable experiences possible are created spontaneously [Kant, by Pinkard]
'Transcendental' cognition concerns what can be known a priori of its mode [Kant]
We cannot know things in themselves, but are confined to appearances [Kant]
We have proved that bodies are appearances of the outer senses, not things in themselves [Kant]
Everything we intuit is merely a representation, with no external existence (Transcendental Idealism) [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 1. Nature of the A Priori
Kant's shift of view enables us to see a priority in terms of mental capacity, not truth and propositions [Burge on Kant]
A priori knowledge is limited to objects of possible experience [Kant, by Jolley]
A priori knowledge occurs absolutely independently of all experience [Kant]
One sort of a priori knowledge just analyses given concepts, but another ventures further [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 2. Self-Evidence
Experienceless bodies have space; propertyless bodies have substance; this must be seen a priori [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 4. A Priori as Necessities
Two plus two objects make four objects even if experience is impossible, so Kant is wrong [Russell on Kant]
Propositions involving necessity are a priori, and pure a priori if they only derive from other necessities [Kant]
The apriori is independent of its sources, and marked by necessity and generality [Kant, by Burge]
A priori knowledge is indispensable for the possibility and certainty of experience [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 5. A Priori Synthetic
Seeing that only one parallel can be drawn to a line through a given point is clearly synthetic a priori [Kant, by Benardete,JA]
Kant bases the synthetic a priori on the categories of oneness and manyness [Kant, by Bowie]
Kant showed that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely analytic [Kant, by Russell]
We can think of 7 and 5 without 12, but it is still a contradiction to deny 7+5=12 [Ayer on Kant]
That a straight line is the shortest is synthetic, as straight does not imply any quantity [Kant]
That force and counter-force are equal is necessary, and a priori synthetic [Kant]
The real problem of pure reason is: how are a priori synthetic judgments possible? [Kant]
That two lines cannot enclose a space is an intuitive a priori synthetic proposition [Kant]
Are a priori concepts necessary as a precondition for something to be an object? [Kant]
7+5=12 is not analytic, because 12 is not contained in 7 or 5 or their combination [Kant]
We possess synthetic a priori knowledge in our principles which anticipate experience [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 6. A Priori from Reason
Reason contains within itself certain underived concepts and principles [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 7. A Priori from Convention
If, as Kant says, arithmetic and logic are contributed by us, they could change if we did [Russell on Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 8. A Priori as Analytic
No analysis of the sum of seven and five will in itself reveal twelve [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 9. A Priori from Concepts
For Kant analytic knowledge needs complex concepts, but the a priori can rest on the simple [Coffa on Kant]
With large numbers it is obvious that we could never find the sum by analysing the concepts [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 10. A Priori as Subjective
A priori the understanding can only anticipate possible experiences [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / b. Primary/secondary
We know the shape of a cone from its concept, but we don't know its colour [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / d. Secondary qualities
Colours and tastes are not qualities of things, but alterations of the subject [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 5. Interpretation
Kant says the cognitive and sensory elements in experience can't be separated [Kant, by Dancy,J]
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 6. Inference in Perception
Appearances have a 'form', which indicates a relational order [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
We cannot represent objects unless we combine concepts with intuitions [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 2. Associationism
I exist just as an intelligence aware of its faculty for combination [Kant]
Associations and causes cannot explain content, which needs norms of judgement [Kant, by Pinkard]
Rats find some obvious associations easier to learn than less obvious ones [Ladyman/Ross]
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 4. Pro-Empiricism
For Kant, our conceptual scheme is disastrous when it reaches beyond experience [Kant, by Fogelin]
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique
The doctrine of empiricism does not itself seem to be empirically justified [Ladyman/Ross]
Understanding has no intuitions, and senses no thought, so knowledge needs their unity [Kant]
Sensations are a posteriori, but that they come in degrees is known a priori [Kant]
12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 2. Intuition
Kantian intuitions are of particulars, and they give immediate knowledge [Kant, by Shapiro]
There is no reason to think our intuitions are good for science or metaphysics [Ladyman/Ross]
13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / f. Foundationalism critique
A sufficient but general sign of truth cannot possibly be provided [Kant]
13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 5. Coherentism / a. Coherence as justification
Kant says knowledge is when our representations sufficiently conform to our concepts [Kant, by Critchley]
13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 1. Scepticism
Kant thought he had refuted scepticism, but his critics say he is a sceptic, for rejecting reality [O'Grady on Kant]
13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 6. Scepticism Critique
Scepticism is the euthanasia of pure reason [Kant]
Scepticism is absurd in maths, where there are no hidden false assertions [Kant]
13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 1. Relativism
For Kant, experience is relative to a scheme, but there are no further possible schemes [Kant, by Fogelin]
14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 4. Prediction
The theory of evolution was accepted because it explained, not because of its predictions [Ladyman/Ross]
What matters is whether a theory can predict - not whether it actually does so [Ladyman/Ross]
14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 6. Falsification
If a proposition implies any false consequences, then it is false [Kant]
14. Science / B. Scientific Theories / 8. Ramsey Sentences
The Ramsey sentence describes theoretical entities; it skips reference, but doesn't eliminate it [Ladyman/Ross]
The Ramsey-sentence approach preserves observations, but eliminates unobservables [Ladyman/Ross]
14. Science / C. Induction / 1. Induction
Induction is reasoning from the observed to the unobserved [Ladyman/Ross]
14. Science / C. Induction / 4. Reason in Induction
Inductive defences of induction may be rule-circular, but not viciously premise-circular [Ladyman/Ross]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / c. Explanations by coherence
We explain by deriving the properties of a phenomenon by embedding it in a large abstract theory [Ladyman/Ross]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 3. Mental Causation
Freedom and natural necessity do not contradict, as they relate to different conditions [Kant]
15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / f. Higher-order thought
Kant thought that consciousness depends on self-consciousness ('apperception') [Kant, by Crane]
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 1. Faculties
Kant's only answer as to how synthetic a priori judgements are possible was that we have a 'faculty'! [Nietzsche on Kant]
Reason has logical and transcendental faculties [Kant]
Judgements which are essentially and strictly universal reveal our faculty of a priori cognition [Kant]
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 2. Imagination
We are seldom aware of imagination, but we would have no cognition at all without it [Kant]
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 4. Objectification
Maybe the only way we can think about a domain is by dividing it up into objects [Ladyman/Ross]
16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 3. Self as Non-physical
I can express the motion of my body in a single point, but that doesn't mean it is a simple substance [Kant]
16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 4. Presupposition of Self
To some extent we must view ourselves as noumena [Kant, by Korsgaard]
Representation would be impossible without the 'I think' that accompanies it [Kant]
16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 7. Self and Body / a. Self needs body
We need an account of the self based on rational principles, to avoid materialism [Kant]
16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 2. Knowing the Self
Self-knowledge can only be inner sensation, and thus appearance [Kant]
16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 3. Limits of Introspection
I have no cognition of myself as I am, but only as I appear to myself [Kant]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / c. Inadequacy of mental continuity
I can only determine my existence in time via external things [Kant]
As balls communicate motion, so substances could communicate consciousness, but not retain identity [Kant]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 3. Reference of 'I'
For Kant the self is a purely formal idea, not a substance [Kant, by Lockwood]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 7. Self and Thinking
Mental representations would not be mine if they did not belong to a unified self-consciousness [Kant]
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 1. Nature of Free Will
We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself [Kant]
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 4. For Free Will
We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires [Kant, by Korsgaard]
If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing [Kant]
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 6. Determinism / a. Determinism
Two versions of quantum theory say that the world is deterministic [Ladyman/Ross]
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 1. Dualism
Soul and body connect physically, or by harmony, or by assistance [Kant]
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 8. Dualism of Mind Critique
Our concept of an incorporeal nature is merely negative [Kant]
Neither materialism nor spiritualism can reveal the separate existence of the soul [Kant]
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 4. Emergentism
Science is opposed to downward causation [Ladyman/Ross]
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 1. Thought
A pure concept of the understanding can never become an image [Kant]
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / a. Rationality
Kantian 'intuition' is the bridge between pure reason and its application to sense experiences [Kant, by Friend]
18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 2. Categories of Understanding
Kant deduced the categories from our judgements, and then as preconditions of experience [Kant, by Houlgate]
Kant says we can describe the categories of thought, but Hegel claims to deduce them [Kant, by Meillassoux]
Categories are concepts that prescribe laws a priori to appearances [Kant]
Four groups of categories of concept: Quantity, Quality, Relation and Modality [Kant]
The categories are objectively valid, because they make experience possible [Kant]
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 1. Concepts / a. Nature of concepts
Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind [Kant]
Either experience creates concepts, or concepts make experience possible [Kant]
Reason generates no concepts, but frees them from their link to experience in the understanding [Kant]
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 1. Concepts / c. Concepts in psychology
Concepts are rules for combining representations [Kant, by Pinkard]
All human cognition is through concepts [Kant]
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / b. Analysis of concepts
Kant implies that concepts have analysable parts [Kant, by Shapiro]
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / i. Conceptual priority
Conceptual priority is barely intelligible [Oliver]
19. Language / E. Analyticity / 1. Analytic Propositions
Non-subject/predicate tautologies won't fit Kant's definition of analyticity [Shapiro on Kant]
How can bachelor 'contain' unmarried man? Are all analytic truths in subject-predicate form? [Miller,A on Kant]
If the predicate is contained in the subject of a judgement, it is analytic; otherwise synthetic [Kant]
Analytic judgements clarify, by analysing the subject into its component predicates [Kant]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / a. Preconditions for ethics
Without God, creation and free will, morality would be empty [Kant]
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / b. Fact and value
We cannot derive moral laws from experience, as it is the mother of illusion [Kant]
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / a. Normativity
We only understand what exists, and can find no sign of what ought to be in nature [Kant]
23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 6. Motivation for Duty
Moral blame is based on reason, since a reason is a cause which should have been followed [Kant]
Moral laws are commands, which must involve promises and threats, which only God could provide [Kant]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 5. Existence-Essence
For Kant, essence is mental and a mere idea, and existence is the senses and mere appearance [Kant, by Feuerbach]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / d. Liberal freedom
An obvious idea is a constitution based on maximum mutual freedom for citizens [Kant]
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 6. Political freedom
The existence of reason depends on the freedom of citizens to agree, doubt and veto ideas [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 1. Nature
Kant's nature is just a system of necessary laws [Bowie on Kant]
Kant identifies nature with the scientific picture of it as the realm of law [Kant, by McDowell]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / b. Limited purposes
Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 7. Later Matter Theories / c. Matter as extension
Extension and impenetrability together make the concept of matter [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 3. Knowing Kinds
Explanation by kinds and by clusters of properties just express the stability of reality [Ladyman/Ross]
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 4. Source of Kinds
There is nothing more to a natural kind than a real pattern in nature [Ladyman/Ross]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 7. Eliminating causation
Causation is found in the special sciences, but may have no role in fundamental physics [Ladyman/Ross]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / b. Causal relata
A ball denting a pillow seems like simultaneous cause and effect, though time identifies which is cause [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / a. Constant conjunction
Appearances give rules of what usually happens, but cause involves necessity [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / b. Nomological causation
The concept of causality entails laws; random causality is a contradiction [Kant, by Korsgaard]
We judge causation by relating events together by some law of nature [Kant, by Mares]
Experience is only possible because we subject appearances to causal laws [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / d. Causal necessity
Causation obviously involves necessity, so it cannot just be frequent association [Kant]
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 1. Laws of Nature
Science may have uninstantiated laws, inferred from approaching some unrealised limit [Ladyman/Ross]
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / b. Scientific necessity
For Kant the laws must be necessary, because contingency would destroy representation [Kant, by Meillassoux]
Kant fails to prove the necessity of laws, because his reasoning about chance is over-ambitious [Meillassoux on Kant]
27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / a. Concept of matter
That the universe must be 'made of' something is just obsolete physics [Ladyman/Ross]
In physics, matter is an emergent phenomenon, not part of fundamental ontology [Ladyman/Ross]
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 2. Space
We can't learn of space through experience; experience of space needs its representation [Kant]
Space is an a priori necessary basic intuition, as we cannot imagine its absence [Kant]
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 6. Space-Time
Spacetime may well be emergent, rather than basic [Ladyman/Ross]
If spacetime is substantial, what is the substance? [Ladyman/Ross]
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / a. Absolute time
If space and time exist absolutely, we must assume the existence of two pointless non-entities [Kant]
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / c. Idealist time
One can never imagine appearances without time, so it is given a priori [Kant]
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / h. Presentism
A fixed foliation theory of quantum gravity could make presentism possible [Ladyman/Ross]
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / a. Experience of time
That times cannot be simultaneous is synthetic, so it is known by intuition, not analysis [Kant]
The three modes of time are persistence, succession and simultaneity [Kant]
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / b. Rate of time
If time involved succession, we must think of another time in which succession occurs [Kant]
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / b. Euthyphro question
We don't accept duties as coming from God, but assume they are divine because they are duties [Kant]
28. God / B. Proving God / 1. Proof of God
Only three proofs of God: the physico-theological (evidence), the cosmological (existence), the ontological (a priori) [Kant]
28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / b. Ontological Proof critique
If 'this exists' is analytic, either the thing is a thought, or you have presupposed its existence [Kant]
If an existential proposition is synthetic, you must be able to cancel its predicate without contradiction [Kant]
Being is not a real predicate, that adds something to a concept [Kant]
You add nothing to the concept of God or coins if you say they exist [Kant]
Existence is merely derived from the word 'is' (rather than being a predicate) [Kant, by Orenstein]
Modern logic says (with Kant) that existence is not a predicate, because it has been reclassified as a quantifier [Benardete,JA on Kant]
Kant never denied that 'exist' could be a predicate - only that it didn't enlarge concepts [Kant, by Fitting/Mendelsohn]
Is "This thing exists" analytic or synthetic? [Kant]
28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / a. Cosmological Proof
If you prove God cosmologically, by a regress in the sequences of causes, you can't abandon causes at the end [Kant]