38 ideas
17713 | After 1903, Husserl avoids metaphysical commitments [Mares] |
3870 | The real problem of science is how to choose between possible explanations [Newton-Smith] |
3859 | We do not wish merely to predict, we also want to explain [Newton-Smith] |
3853 | For science to be rational, we must explain scientific change rationally [Newton-Smith] |
3854 | Positivists hold that theoretical terms change, but observation terms don't [Newton-Smith] |
3855 | Critics attack positivist division between theory and observation [Newton-Smith] |
3869 | More truthful theories have greater predictive power [Newton-Smith] |
3861 | Theories generate infinite truths and falsehoods, so they cannot be used to assess probability [Newton-Smith] |
23445 | Naïve set theory says any formula defines a set, and coextensive sets are identical [Linnebo] |
23447 | In classical semantics singular terms refer, and quantifiers range over domains [Linnebo] |
23443 | The axioms of group theory are not assertions, but a definition of a structure [Linnebo] |
23444 | To investigate axiomatic theories, mathematics needs its own foundational axioms [Linnebo] |
17715 | The truth of the axioms doesn't matter for pure mathematics, but it does for applied [Mares] |
23446 | You can't prove consistency using a weaker theory, but you can use a consistent theory [Linnebo] |
23448 | Mathematics is the study of all possible patterns, and is thus bound to describe the world [Linnebo] |
17716 | Mathematics is relations between properties we abstract from experience [Mares] |
23441 | Logical truth is true in all models, so mathematical objects can't be purely logical [Linnebo] |
23442 | Game Formalism has no semantics, and Term Formalism reduces the semantics [Linnebo] |
3867 | De re necessity arises from the way the world is [Newton-Smith] |
17703 | Light in straight lines is contingent a priori; stipulated as straight, because they happen to be so [Mares] |
3872 | We must assess the truth of beliefs in identifying them [Newton-Smith] |
17714 | Aristotelians dislike the idea of a priori judgements from pure reason [Mares] |
17705 | Empiricists say rationalists mistake imaginative powers for modal insights [Mares] |
17700 | The most popular view is that coherent beliefs explain one another [Mares] |
3857 | Defeat relativism by emphasising truth and reference, not meaning [Newton-Smith] |
3858 | A full understanding of 'yellow' involves some theory [Newton-Smith] |
3862 | All theories contain anomalies, and so are falsified! [Newton-Smith] |
3863 | The anomaly of Uranus didn't destroy Newton's mechanics - it led to Neptune's discovery [Newton-Smith] |
3864 | Anomalies are judged against rival theories, and support for the current theory [Newton-Smith] |
3865 | Why should it matter whether or not a theory is scientific? [Newton-Smith] |
17704 | Operationalism defines concepts by our ways of measuring them [Mares] |
3866 | If theories are really incommensurable, we could believe them all [Newton-Smith] |
17710 | Aristotelian justification uses concepts abstracted from experience [Mares] |
17706 | The essence of a concept is either its definition or its conceptual relations? [Mares] |
17701 | Possible worlds semantics has a nice compositional account of modal statements [Mares] |
17702 | Unstructured propositions are sets of possible worlds; structured ones have components [Mares] |
3871 | Explaining an action is showing that it is rational [Newton-Smith] |
17708 | Maybe space has points, but processes always need regions with a size [Mares] |