103 ideas
5728 | The concept of truth was originated by the senses [Lucretius] |
18395 | Sets are mereological sums of the singletons of their members [Lewis, by Armstrong] |
15496 | We can build set theory on singletons: classes are then fusions of subclasses, membership is the singleton [Lewis] |
15500 | Classes divide into subclasses in many ways, but into members in only one way [Lewis] |
15499 | A subclass of a subclass is itself a subclass; a member of a member is not in general a member [Lewis] |
15503 | We needn't accept this speck of nothingness, this black hole in the fabric of Reality! [Lewis] |
15498 | We can accept the null set, but there is no null class of anything [Lewis] |
15502 | There are four main reasons for asserting that there is an empty set [Lewis] |
15506 | If we don't understand the singleton, then we don't understand classes [Lewis] |
15497 | We can replace the membership relation with the member-singleton relation (plus mereology) [Lewis] |
15511 | If singleton membership is external, why is an object a member of one rather than another? [Lewis] |
15513 | Maybe singletons have a structure, of a thing and a lasso? [Lewis] |
15507 | Set theory has some unofficial axioms, generalisations about how to understand it [Lewis] |
10191 | Set theory reduces to a mereological theory with singletons as the only atoms [Lewis, by MacBride] |
15508 | If singletons are where their members are, then so are all sets [Lewis] |
15514 | A huge part of Reality is only accepted as existing if you have accepted set theory [Lewis] |
15523 | Set theory isn't innocent; it generates infinities from a single thing; but mathematics needs it [Lewis] |
15525 | Plural quantification lacks a complete axiom system [Lewis] |
15518 | I like plural quantification, but am not convinced of its connection with second-order logic [Lewis] |
15524 | Zermelo's model of arithmetic is distinctive because it rests on a primitive of set theory [Lewis] |
15517 | Giving up classes means giving up successful mathematics because of dubious philosophy [Lewis] |
15515 | To be a structuralist, you quantify over relations [Lewis] |
15520 | Existence doesn't come in degrees; once asserted, it can't then be qualified [Lewis] |
12747 | Monads are not extended, but have a kind of situation in extension [Leibniz] |
12748 | Only monads are substances, and bodies are collections of them [Leibniz] |
15501 | We have no idea of a third sort of thing, that isn't an individual, a class, or their mixture [Lewis] |
15504 | Atomless gunk is an individual whose parts all have further proper parts [Lewis] |
13184 | The division of nature into matter makes distinct appearances, and that presupposes substances [Leibniz] |
13188 | The only indications of reality are agreement among phenomena, and their agreement with necessities [Leibniz] |
12752 | Only unities have any reality [Leibniz] |
13187 | In actual things nothing is indefinite [Leibniz] |
19383 | A man's distant wife dying is a real change in him [Leibniz] |
15516 | A property is any class of possibilia [Lewis] |
13179 | A complete monad is a substance with primitive active and passive power [Leibniz] |
12749 | Derivate forces are in phenomena, but primitive forces are in the internal strivings of substances [Leibniz] |
12722 | Thought terminates in force, rather than extension [Leibniz] |
19379 | The law of the series, which determines future states of a substance, is what individuates it [Leibniz] |
14748 | The many are many and the one is one, so they can't be identical [Lewis] |
6129 | Lewis affirms 'composition as identity' - that an object is no more than its parts [Lewis, by Merricks] |
15512 | In mereology no two things consist of the same atoms [Lewis] |
15519 | Trout-turkeys exist, despite lacking cohesion, natural joints and united causal power [Lewis] |
15521 | Given cats, a fusion of cats adds nothing further to reality [Lewis] |
15522 | The one has different truths from the many; it is one rather than many, one rather than six [Lewis] |
14244 | Lewis only uses fusions to create unities, but fusions notoriously flatten our distinctions [Oliver/Smiley on Lewis] |
10660 | A commitment to cat-fusions is not a further commitment; it is them and they are it [Lewis] |
10566 | Lewis prefers giving up singletons to giving up sums [Lewis, by Fine,K] |
13182 | Changeable accidents are modifications of unchanging essences [Leibniz] |
13178 | Things in different locations are different because they 'express' those locations [Leibniz] |
19411 | In nature there aren't even two identical straight lines, so no two bodies are alike [Leibniz] |
19412 | If two bodies only seem to differ in their position, those different environments will matter [Leibniz] |
15509 | Some say qualities are parts of things - as repeatable universals, or as particulars [Lewis] |
5729 | If the senses are deceptive, reason, which rests on them, is even worse [Lucretius] |
5702 | The senses are much the best way to distinguish true from false [Lucretius] |
5697 | The only possible standard for settling doubts is the foundation of the senses [Lucretius] |
19410 | Scientific truths are supported by mutual agreement, as well as agreement with the phenomena [Leibniz] |
5727 | Most supposed delusions of the senses are really misinterpretations by the mind [Lucretius] |
5714 | Even simple facts are hard to believe at first hearing [Lucretius] |
5718 | The mind is in the middle of the breast, because there we experience fear and joy [Lucretius] |
5717 | The mind is a part of a man, just like a hand or an eye [Lucretius] |
21387 | The separate elements and capacities of a mind cannot be distinguished [Lucretius] |
13183 | Primitive forces are internal strivings of substances, acting according to their internal laws [Leibniz] |
5709 | The actions of the mind are not determinate and passive, because atoms can swerve [Lucretius] |
19409 | Soul represents body, but soul remains unchanged, while body continuously changes [Leibniz] |
5695 | Only bodies can touch one another [Lucretius] |
5711 | The earth is and always has been an insentient being [Lucretius] |
5712 | Particles may have sensation, but eggs turning into chicks suggests otherwise [Lucretius] |
5719 | The mind moves limbs, wakes the body up, changes facial expressions, which involve touch [Lucretius] |
5724 | Lions, foxes and deer have distinct characters because their minds share in their bodies [Lucretius] |
5713 | You needn't be made of laughing particles to laugh, so why not sensation from senseless seeds? [Lucretius] |
11873 | Our notions may be formed from concepts, but concepts are formed from things [Leibniz] |
13186 | Universals are just abstractions by concealing some of the circumstances [Leibniz] |
6611 | One man's meat is another man's poison [Lucretius] |
5730 | Our bodies weren't created to be used; on the contrary, their creation makes a use possible [Lucretius] |
5726 | The dead are no different from those who were never born [Lucretius] |
5705 | Nature only wants two things: freedom from pain, and pleasure [Lucretius] |
5716 | Nature runs the universe by herself without the aid of gods [Lucretius] |
5704 | There can be no centre in infinity [Lucretius] |
5703 | The universe must be limitless, since there could be nothing outside to limit it [Lucretius] |
5693 | Everything is created and fed by nature from atoms, and they return to atoms in death [Lucretius] |
5701 | If an object is infinitely subdivisible, it will be the same as the whole universe [Lucretius] |
5708 | In downward motion, atoms occasionally swerve slightly for no reason [Lucretius] |
13185 | Even if extension is impenetrable, this still offers no explanation for motion and its laws [Leibniz] |
13177 | An entelechy is a law of the series of its event within some entity [Leibniz] |
17004 | Nothing can break the binding laws of eternity [Lucretius] |
13093 | The only permanence in things, constituting their substance, is a law of continuity [Leibniz] |
5696 | If there were no space there could be no movement, or even creation [Lucretius] |
5706 | Atoms move themselves [Lucretius] |
13096 | The force behind motion is like a soul, with its own laws of continual change [Leibniz] |
5700 | It is quicker to break things up than to assemble them [Lucretius] |
13180 | Space is the order of coexisting possibles [Leibniz] |
13181 | Time is the order of inconsistent possibilities [Leibniz] |
5698 | We can only sense time by means of movement, or its absence [Lucretius] |
5715 | This earth is very unlikely to be the only one created [Lucretius] |
5694 | Nothing can be created by divine power out of nothing [Lucretius] |
5699 | If matter wasn't everlasting, everything would have disappeared by now [Lucretius] |
5707 | The universe can't have been created by gods, because it is too imperfect [Lucretius] |
5710 | Gods are tranquil and aloof, and have no need of or interest in us [Lucretius] |
5731 | Why does Jupiter never hurl lightning from a blue sky? [Lucretius] |
5722 | For a separated spirit to remain sentient it would need sense organs attached to it [Lucretius] |
5725 | An immortal mind couldn't work harmoniously with a mortal body [Lucretius] |
5720 | Spirit is mortal [Lucretius] |
5721 | The mind is very small smooth particles, which evaporate at death [Lucretius] |
5723 | If spirit is immortal and enters us at birth, why don't we remember a previous existence? [Lucretius] |