Single Idea 18824

[catalogued under 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility]

Full Idea

Some philosophers describe the colour scarlet as a determination of the determinable red; since the ways the world might be are naturally taken to be properties of the world, it helps to bear this analogy in mind.

Gist of Idea

Since possibilities are properties of the world, calling 'red' the determination of a determinable seems right

Source

Ian Rumfitt (The Boundary Stones of Thought [2015], 6.4)

Book Reference

Rumfitt,Ian: 'The Boundary Stones of Thought' [OUP 2015], p.166


A Reaction

This fits nicely with the disposition accounts of modality which I favour. Hence being 'coloured' is a real property of objects, even in the absence of the name of its specific colour.