66 ideas
14227 | We could refer to tables as 'xs that are arranged tablewise' [Inwagen] |
10662 | Mereology is 'nihilistic' (just atoms) or 'universal' (no restrictions on what is 'whole') [Inwagen, by Varzi] |
17587 | The 'Law' of Excluded Middle needs all propositions to be definitely true or definitely false [Inwagen] |
17558 | Variables are just like pronouns; syntactic explanations get muddled over dummy letters [Inwagen] |
21566 | 'Propositional functions' are ambiguous until the variable is given a value [Russell] |
21567 | 'All judgements made by Epimenedes are true' needs the judgements to be of the same type [Russell] |
17583 | There are no heaps [Inwagen] |
23457 | Type theory cannot identify features across levels (because such predicates break the rules) [Morris,M on Russell] |
21556 | Classes are defined by propositional functions, and functions are typed, with an axiom of reducibility [Russell, by Lackey] |
21568 | A one-variable function is only 'predicative' if it is one order above its arguments [Russell] |
17578 | I reject talk of 'stuff', and treat it in terms of particles [Inwagen] |
17582 | Singular terms can be vague, because they can contain predicates, which can be vague [Inwagen] |
17556 | Material objects are in space and time, move, have a surface and mass, and are made of some stuff [Inwagen] |
8264 | Maybe table-shaped particles exist, but not tables [Inwagen, by Lowe] |
17565 | Nihilism says composition between single things is impossible [Inwagen] |
14228 | If there are no tables, but tables are things arranged tablewise, the denial of tables is a contradiction [Liggins on Inwagen] |
14468 | Actions by artefacts and natural bodies are disguised cooperations, so we don't need them [Inwagen] |
17571 | Every physical thing is either a living organism or a simple [Inwagen] |
17562 | The statue and lump seem to share parts, but the statue is not part of the lump [Inwagen] |
17574 | If you knead clay you make an infinite series of objects, but they are rearrangements, not creations [Inwagen] |
17531 | I assume matter is particulate, made up of 'simples' [Inwagen] |
17560 | If contact causes composition, do two colliding balls briefly make one object? [Inwagen] |
17561 | If bricks compose a house, that is at least one thing, but it might be many things [Inwagen] |
17566 | I think parthood involves causation, and not just a reasonably stable spatial relationship [Inwagen] |
14230 | We can deny whole objects but accept parts, by referring to them as plurals within things [Inwagen, by Liggins] |
17557 | Special Composition Question: when is a thing part of something? [Inwagen] |
17564 | The essence of a star includes the released binding energy which keeps it from collapse [Inwagen] |
17575 | The persistence of artifacts always covertly involves intelligent beings [Inwagen] |
17577 | When an electron 'leaps' to another orbit, is the new one the same electron? [Inwagen] |
17589 | If you reject transitivity of vague identity, there is no Ship of Theseus problem [Inwagen] |
17588 | We should talk of the transitivity of 'identity', and of 'definite identity' [Inwagen] |
17572 | Actuality proves possibility, but that doesn't explain how it is possible [Inwagen] |
17579 | Counterparts reduce counterfactual identity to problems about similarity relations [Inwagen] |
17590 | A merely possible object clearly isn't there, so that is a defective notion [Inwagen] |
17591 | Merely possible objects must be consistent properties, or haecceities [Inwagen] |
23928 | Good art produces exaltation and detachment [Bell,C] |
23922 | The word 'beauty' leads to confusion, because it denotes distinct emotions [Bell,C] |
23921 | Our feeling for natural beauty is different from the aesthetic emotion of art [Bell,C] |
23929 | We only see landscapes as artistic if we ignore their instrumental value [Bell,C] |
23923 | Visual form can create a sublime mental state [Bell,C] |
23927 | Aestheticism invites artist to create beauty, but with no indication of how to do it [Bell,C] |
23932 | Art is the expression of an emotion for ultimate reality [Bell,C] |
8115 | Only artists can discern significant form; other people must look to art to find it [Bell,C, by Gardner] |
23924 | Maybe significant form gives us a feeling for ultimate reality [Bell,C] |
23931 | Significant form is the essence of art, which I believe expresses an emotion about reality [Bell,C] |
20434 | 'Form' is visual relations, and it is 'significant' if it moves us aesthetically; art needs both [Bell,C, by Feagin] |
23934 | The only expression art could have is the emotion resulting from pure form [Bell,C] |
23925 | Mere copies of pictures are not significant - unless the copies are very exact [Bell,C] |
23926 | Art is distinguished by its aesthetic emotion, which produces appropriate form [Bell,C] |
23933 | Aesthetic contemplation is the best and most intense mental state [Bell,C] |
23935 | Aesthetic experience is an exaltation which increases the possibilities of life [Bell,C] |
22691 | Only artistic qualities matter in art, because they also have the highest moral value [Bell,C] |
17563 | The strong force pulls, but also pushes apart if nucleons get too close together [Inwagen] |
17559 | Is one atom a piece of gold, or is a sizable group of atoms required? [Inwagen] |
17584 | Some events are only borderline cases of lives [Inwagen] |
17586 | At the lower level, life trails off into mere molecular interaction [Inwagen] |
17567 | A flame is like a life, but not nearly so well individuated [Inwagen] |
17568 | A tumour may spread a sort of life, but it is not a life, or an organism [Inwagen] |
17569 | Unlike waves, lives are 'jealous'; it is almost impossible for them to overlap [Inwagen] |
17580 | One's mental and other life is centred on the brain, unlike any other part of the body [Inwagen] |
17576 | If God were to 'reassemble' my atoms of ten years ago, the result would certainly not be me [Inwagen] |
17585 | Life is vague at both ends, but could it be totally vague? [Inwagen] |
17570 | The chemical reactions in a human life involve about sixteen elements [Inwagen] |
17581 | Being part of an organism's life is a matter of degree, and vague [Inwagen] |
17573 | There is no reason to think that mere existence is a valuable thing [Inwagen] |
23930 | Religion sees infinite value in some things, and irrelevance in the rest [Bell,C] |