Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Metaphysics: the logical approach', 'De Re and De Dicto' and 'Causation in a Physical World'

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38 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 1. Nature of Metaphysics
3358 Metaphysics focuses on Platonism, essentialism, materialism and anti-realism [Benardete,JA]
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 5. Linguistic Analysis
3312 There are the 'is' of predication (a function), the 'is' of identity (equals), and the 'is' of existence (quantifier) [Benardete,JA]
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 7. Limitations of Analysis
3352 Analytical philosophy analyses separate concepts successfully, but lacks a synoptic vision of the results [Benardete,JA]
1. Philosophy / G. Scientific Philosophy / 1. Aims of Science
3329 Presumably the statements of science are true, but should they be taken literally or not? [Benardete,JA]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 1. Set Theory
3326 Set theory attempts to reduce the 'is' of predication to mathematics [Benardete,JA]
3327 The set of Greeks is included in the set of men, but isn't a member of it [Benardete,JA]
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / a. Axioms for sets
3335 The standard Z-F Intuition version of set theory has about ten agreed axioms [Benardete,JA, by PG]
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / a. Names
14650 Maybe proper names involve essentialism [Plantinga]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 2. Geometry
3332 Greeks saw the science of proportion as the link between geometry and arithmetic [Benardete,JA]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / b. Types of number
3330 Negatives, rationals, irrationals and imaginaries are all postulated to solve baffling equations [Benardete,JA]
3337 Natural numbers are seen in terms of either their ordinality (Peano), or cardinality (set theory) [Benardete,JA]
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / g. Real numbers
14648 Could I name all of the real numbers in one fell swoop? Call them all 'Charley'? [Plantinga]
7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 4. Events / a. Nature of events
3310 If slowness is a property of walking rather than the walker, we must allow that events exist [Benardete,JA]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 8. Stuff / a. Pure stuff
12793 Early pre-Socratics had a mass-noun ontology, which was replaced by count-nouns [Benardete,JA]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 6. Platonic Forms / d. Forms critiques
3353 If there is no causal interaction with transcendent Platonic objects, how can you learn about them? [Benardete,JA]
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / d. Individuation by haecceity
14647 Surely self-identity is essential to Socrates? [Plantinga]
9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 5. Composition of an Object
3304 Why should packed-together particles be a thing (Mt Everest), but not scattered ones? [Benardete,JA]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 6. Essence as Unifier
3350 Could a horse lose the essential property of being a horse, and yet continue to exist? [Benardete,JA]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 9. Essence and Properties
14646 An object has a property essentially if it couldn't conceivably have lacked it [Plantinga]
9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 2. Objects that Change
3309 If a soldier continues to exist after serving as a soldier, does the wind cease to exist after it ceases to blow? [Benardete,JA]
9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 8. Continuity of Rivers
3351 One can step into the same river twice, but not into the same water [Benardete,JA]
9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 5. Self-Identity
3314 Absolutists might accept that to exist is relative, but relative to what? How about relative to itself? [Benardete,JA]
3323 Maybe self-identity isn't existence, if Pegasus can be self-identical but non-existent [Benardete,JA]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 4. De re / De dicto modality
14642 Expressing modality about a statement is 'de dicto'; expressing it of property-possession is 'de re' [Plantinga]
14643 'De dicto' true and 'de re' false is possible, and so is 'de dicto' false and 'de re' true [Plantinga]
14649 Can we find an appropriate 'de dicto' paraphrase for any 'de re' proposition? [Plantinga]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 3. Transworld Objects / a. Transworld identity
14651 What Socrates could have been, and could have become, are different? [Plantinga]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 1. Nature of the A Priori
3306 The clearest a priori knowledge is proving non-existence through contradiction [Benardete,JA]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 5. A Priori Synthetic
3349 If we know truths about prime numbers, we seem to have synthetic a priori knowledge of Platonic objects [Benardete,JA]
3341 Logical positivism amounts to no more than 'there is no synthetic a priori' [Benardete,JA]
3344 Assertions about existence beyond experience can only be a priori synthetic [Benardete,JA]
3345 Appeals to intuition seem to imply synthetic a priori knowledge [Benardete,JA]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 1. Causation
8404 Explain single events by general rules, or vice versa, or probability explains both, or they are unconnected [Field,H]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 5. Direction of causation
8401 Physical laws are largely time-symmetric, so they make a poor basis for directional causation [Field,H]
8400 Identifying cause and effect is not just conventional; we explain later events by earlier ones [Field,H]
8402 The only reason for adding the notion of 'cause' to fundamental physics is directionality [Field,H]
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space
3334 Rationalists see points as fundamental, but empiricists prefer regions [Benardete,JA]
28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / a. Ontological Proof
3308 In the ontological argument a full understanding of the concept of God implies a contradiction in 'There is no God' [Benardete,JA]