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All the ideas for 'The Statesman', 'Reference and Definite Descriptions' and 'Lecture on Nominalism'

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20 ideas

1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 2. Analysis by Division
16123 Whenever you perceive a community of things, you should also hunt out differences in the group [Plato]
2. Reason / D. Definition / 2. Aims of Definition
16125 To reveal a nature, divide down, and strip away what it has in common with other things [Plato]
16124 No one wants to define 'weaving' just for the sake of weaving [Plato]
2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 1. Fallacy
21697 The Struthionic Fallacy is that of burying one's head in the sand [Quine]
5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 6. Relations in Logic
21698 All relations, apart from ancestrals, can be reduced to simpler logic [Quine]
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 2. Descriptions / a. Descriptions
7760 Russell only uses descriptions attributively, and Strawson only referentially [Donnellan, by Lycan]
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 2. Descriptions / b. Definite descriptions
5811 A definite description can have a non-referential use [Donnellan]
5812 Definite descriptions are 'attributive' if they say something about x, and 'referential' if they pick x out [Donnellan]
5814 'The x is F' only presumes that x exists; it does not actually entail the existence [Donnellan]
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 3. Mathematical Nominalism
21696 Nominalism rejects both attributes and classes (where extensionalism accepts the classes) [Quine]
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 3. Innate Knowledge / b. Recollection doctrine
5961 The soul gets its goodness from god, and its evil from previous existence. [Plato]
19. Language / B. Reference / 4. Descriptive Reference / b. Reference by description
10435 A definite description 'the F' is referential if the speaker could thereby be referring to something not-F [Donnellan, by Sainsbury]
10451 Donnellan is unclear whether the referential-attributive distinction is semantic or pragmatic [Bach on Donnellan]
5813 A description can successfully refer, even if its application to the subject is not believed [Donnellan]
19. Language / B. Reference / 5. Speaker's Reference
5815 Whether a definite description is referential or attributive depends on the speaker's intention [Donnellan]
19. Language / F. Communication / 1. Rhetoric
283 The question of whether or not to persuade comes before the science of persuasion [Plato]
21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 5. Natural Beauty
282 Non-physical beauty can only be shown clearly by speech [Plato]
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / f. The Mean
281 The arts produce good and beautiful things by preserving the mean [Plato]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy
22559 Democracy is the worst of good constitutions, but the best of bad constitutions [Plato, by Aristotle]
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 2. Divine Nature
279 Only divine things can always stay the same, and bodies are not like that [Plato]