Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Precis of 'Limits of Abstraction'', 'Capital Vol. 1' and 'Platonistic Theories of Universals'

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10 ideas

2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor
Entities can be multiplied either by excessive categories, or excessive entities within a category [Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
2. Reason / D. Definition / 2. Aims of Definition
Definitions concern how we should speak, not how things are [Fine,K]
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 5. Definitions of Number / d. Hume's Principle
If Hume's Principle can define numbers, we needn't worry about its truth [Fine,K]
Hume's Principle is either adequate for number but fails to define properly, or vice versa [Fine,K]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 4. Uninstantiated Universals
'There are shapes which are never exemplified' is the toughest example for nominalists [Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / a. Nominalism
Nominalists are motivated by Ockham's Razor and a distrust of unobservables [Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 2. Nature of Possible Worlds / a. Nature of possible worlds
Four theories of possible worlds: conceptualist, combinatorial, abstract, or concrete [Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 7. Abstracta by Equivalence
An abstraction principle should not 'inflate', producing more abstractions than objects [Fine,K]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism
Must production determine superstructure, or could it be the other way round? [Singer on Marx]
Even decently paid workers still have their produce bought with money stolen from them [Marx]