Single Idea 8944

[catalogued under 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / e. Vague objects]

Full Idea

Vague terms come in at least two different kinds: those whose constituent parts come in discrete packets (bald, rich, red) and those that don't (beauty, boredom, niceness).

Gist of Idea

Vagueness can involve components (like baldness), or not (like boredom)

Source

Jennifer Fisher (On the Philosophy of Logic [2008], 07.II)

Book Reference

Fisher,Jennifer: 'On the Philosophy of Logic' [Thomson Wadsworth 2008], p.97


A Reaction

The first group seem to be features of the external world, and the second all occur in the mind. Baldness may be vague, but presumably hairs are (on the whole) not. Nature doesn't care whether someone is actually 'bald' or not.