4
votes
Nature of Values: Is There Such a Thing as a Universal Value?
The canonical answer is that according to a number of major linguists, anthropologists, biologists, and psychologists, human are not as diverse as they like to think themselves, and there are ...
- 35.5k
4
votes
Why do realists insist that universals EXIST?
It is all wordplay about the meaning of the word exist. If there are ten apples in the universe, then you can say numbers exist. If the apples have stalks, you can say stalks exist. If the apples are ...
- 26.4k
3
votes
Could, "If X is red, X has a coloration," possibly be not true like, "Cucumbers are vegetables," is not strictly true?
It's just multiple definitions for the same symbol.
Carrot is vegetable is not part true and part false. It's true for some definitions of carrot and vegetable and false for other definitions. The ...
- 8,413
3
votes
Why do realists insist that universals EXIST?
Can't we then simply say there is this particular thing, this particular thing and so on?
We sure can, but then we won't be able to communicate, thus defeating the whole purpose of language. When you ...
- 1,791
3
votes
Accepted
How can I unambiguously differentiate between universals and particulars?
Part of the reason that this question is hard is because there are a couple of potentially confusing issues involved. First, there is the difference between a universal and a set. Second, there is the ...
- 13.1k
3
votes
Accepted
"Too simple to be simple" (a phrase in category theory) and the concept of absurdity
Is the phrase "too simple to be simple" an example of GAN-talk under the absurditarian(!) interpretation?
No. First, a few clarificatory remarks.
Later LW in PI used the term "Unsinn&...
- 35.5k
2
votes
How do humans generalize abstract concepts from concrete objects?
The mind's job is to solve cognitive problems. "Where shall I go for lunch? Is this thermos large enough to hold all my tea? Can I form a square with the same area as this circle? Should I be ...
- 18.9k
2
votes
How do humans generalize abstract concepts from concrete objects?
What we see is square with four 10 inches sides or other sizes.
Not quite. You see the square, and the four sides of the square, but you don't actually see that they are 10 inches long.
One 1km-sided ...
- 9,882
2
votes
Does nominalism about kinds/universals entail eliminativism/nihilism about ordinary objects?
According to the SEP's article Nominalism in Metaphysics:
Nominalism comes in at least two varieties. In one of them it is the rejection of abstract objects; in the other it is the rejection of ...
- 35.5k
2
votes
Kant and the Ship of Theseus
The resolution to the paradox is that humans categorise the stuff of the world in subsets that have a useful and intuitive meaning. The ship of Theseus is ultimately a vast collection of fundamental ...
- 26.4k
2
votes
Why do realists insist that universals EXIST?
Does a stone block exist? (suppose your answer is yes; my answer is yes)
Does a bridge made of stone blocks exist? (suppose your answer here is also yes; my answer is yes)
In that case we must admit ...
- 18.9k
2
votes
Accepted
The Most General Form of the Well-Ordering Theorem
When it comes to applying specialized axioms from set theory to things like causal regresses, you might well be looking more for the foundation/regularity than the choice axioms. I say this because I ...
- 22.5k
2
votes
Is nominalism generally considered to be disconfirmed?
There's consistently been an even amount of platonists & nominalists and this continues to be the case in contemporary philosophy, see the PhilPapers survey (actually, right now, there might be ...
- 138
1
vote
Could, "If X is red, X has a coloration," possibly be not true like, "Cucumbers are vegetables," is not strictly true?
I want to bring up Quine's Two Dogmas of Empiricism here. A poor summary: Quine rejects the idea that there is a distinction between analytic claims ("Water is H2O", ) and synthetic ones (&...
- 703
1
vote
Why do realists insist that universals EXIST?
Thank you for your intriguing...
Thought Experiment
You posit:
Consider a universe of size 10×10×10. Let there be 10 identical apples and 10 identical rods in it.
Realists insist that not just 20 ...
- 5,394
1
vote
Nature of Values: Is There Such a Thing as a Universal Value?
Up to a point, yes. Humans have evolved as a species, so naturally they have species-wide traits, just as other species do. Most people avoid pain, feed themselves, seek a mate, don't defecate in ...
- 26.4k
1
vote
Is the axiomatic method an inherently well-founded method?
I'm out of my depth but maybe this is helpful from https://youtu.be/j4dlamySLuE?t=379. It seems like the presenter Elaine Landry disagrees with your "the purpose of axioms...is to provide for ...
- 3,521
1
vote
Logical Atomism and Simple Particulars
Russell's preferred example of what he means by a "simple particular" is a sense-datum (an object of sensory experience), but it could apply to any object of awareness that is the sort of ...
1
vote
Is nominalism generally considered to be disconfirmed?
I see the surveys showing no drop in support for nominalism among philosophers in general, and agree that may be the case among your materialist colleagues as well. But that does not appear to be the ...
- 17.4k
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