Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Existentialism: an introduction', 'Reference and Essence (1st edn)' and 'Mental Events'

expand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts


27 ideas

1. Philosophy / H. Continental Philosophy / 2. Phenomenology
Phenomenologists say all experience is about something and is directed [Aho]
2. Reason / D. Definition / 11. Ostensive Definition
Ostensive definitions needn't involve pointing, but must refer to something specific [Salmon,N]
4. Formal Logic / D. Modal Logic ML / 3. Modal Logic Systems / h. System S5
S4, and therefore S5, are invalid for metaphysical modality [Salmon,N, by Williamson]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / a. Essence as necessary properties
Essentialism says some properties must be possessed, if a thing is to exist [Salmon,N]
14. Science / B. Scientific Theories / 2. Aim of Science
Science has to abstract out the subjective attributes of things, focusing on what is objective [Aho]
17. Mind and Body / B. Behaviourism / 4. Behaviourism Critique
There are no rules linking thought and behaviour, because endless other thoughts intervene [Davidson]
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 1. Reductionism critique
Reduction is impossible because mind is holistic and brain isn't [Davidson, by Maslin]
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 2. Anomalous Monism
Anomalous monism says nothing at all about the relationship between mental and physical [Davidson, by Kim]
Mind is outside science, because it is humanistic and partly normative [Davidson, by Lycan]
Anomalous monism says causes are events, so the mental and physical are identical, without identical properties [Davidson, by Crane]
If rule-following and reason are 'anomalies', does that make reductionism impossible? [Davidson, by Kim]
Davidson claims that mental must be physical, to make mental causation possible [Davidson, by Kim]
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 3. Property Dualism
If mental causation is lawless, it is only possible if mental events have physical properties [Davidson, by Kim]
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 5. Supervenience of mind
Supervenience of the mental means physical changes mental, and mental changes physical [Davidson]
17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 5. Causal Argument
Davidson sees identity as between events, not states, since they are related in causation [Davidson, by Lowe]
17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 7. Anti-Physicalism / b. Multiple realisability
Multiple realisability was worse news for physicalism than anomalous monism was [Davidson, by Kim]
19. Language / B. Reference / 1. Reference theories
Frege's 'sense' solves four tricky puzzles [Salmon,N]
19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / a. Direct reference
The perfect case of direct reference is a variable which has been assigned a value [Salmon,N]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst
Anxiety, nausea, guilt and absurdity shake us up, revealing our freedom and limits [Aho]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 5. Existence-Essence
Our 'existence' is how we create ourselves, unconstrained by any prior 'essence' [Aho]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 6. Authentic Self
The self is constituted by its choices made within a social context [Aho]
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / c. Social contract
Social contracts and markets have made society seem disconnected and artificial [Aho]
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 5. Reference to Natural Kinds
Nothing in the direct theory of reference blocks anti-essentialism; water structure might have been different [Salmon,N]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / b. Causal relata
Causation is either between events, or between descriptions of events [Davidson, by Maslin]
Whether an event is a causal explanation depends on how it is described [Davidson, by Maslin]
29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 4. Christianity / a. Christianity
Protestantism brought the modern emphasis on inner states of the soul [Aho]
29. Religion / C. Spiritual Disciplines / 3. Buddhism
Four Noble Truths: life is suffering, caused by attachment, it is avoidable, there is a path [Aho]