Logical Combinatorialism
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Logic in Action: Wittgenstein's Logical Pragmatism and the Impotence of Scepticism
This is the final, pre-publication draft. Please cite only from published paper in Philosophical Investigations 26:2 (April 2003), 125-48. LOGIC IN ACTION: WITTGENSTEIN'S LOGICAL PRAGMATISM AND THE IMPOTENCE OF SCEPTICISM DANIÈLE MOYAL-SHARROCK UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA 1. The Many Faces of Certainty: Wittgenstein's Logical Pragmatism So I am trying to say something that sounds like pragmatism. (OC 422) In his struggle to uncover the nature of our basic beliefs, Wittgenstein depicts them variously in On Certainty: he thinks of them in propositional terms, in pictorial terms and in terms of acting. As propositions, they would be of a peculiar sort – a hybrid between a logical and an empirical proposition (OC 136, 309). These are the so-called 'hinge propositions' of On Certainty (OC 341). Wittgenstein also thinks of these beliefs as forming a picture, a World-picture – or Weltbild (OC 167). This is a step in the right (nonpropositional) direction, but not the ultimate step. Wittgenstein's ultimate and crucial depiction of our basic beliefs is in terms of a know-how, an attitude, a way of acting (OC 204). Here, he treads on pragmatist ground. But can Wittgenstein be labelled a pragmatist, having himself rejected the affiliation because of its utility implication? But you aren't a pragmatist? No. For I am not saying that a proposition is true if it is useful. (RPP I, 266) Wittgenstein resists affiliation with pragmatism because he does not want his use of use to be confused with the utility use of use. For him, it is not that a proposition is true if it is useful, but that use gives the proposition its sense. -
Why Essentialism Requires Two Senses of Necessity’, Ratio 19 (2006): 77–91
Please cite the official published version of this article: ‘Why Essentialism Requires Two Senses of Necessity’, Ratio 19 (2006): 77–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9329.2006.00310.x WHY ESSENTIALISM REQUIRES TWO SENSES OF NECESSITY1 Stephen K. McLeod Abstract I set up a dilemma, concerning metaphysical modality de re, for the essentialist opponent of a ‘two senses’ view of necessity. I focus specifically on Frank Jackson’s two- dimensional account in his From Metaphysics to Ethics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). I set out the background to Jackson’s conception of conceptual analysis and his rejection of a two senses view. I proceed to outline two purportedly objective (as opposed to epistemic) differences between metaphysical and logical necessity. I conclude that since one of these differences must hold and since each requires the adoption of a two senses view of necessity, essentialism is not consistent with the rejection of a two senses view. I. Terminological Preliminaries The essentialist holds that some but not all of a concrete object’s properties are had necessarily and that necessary properties include properties that are, unlike the property 1 Thanks to John Divers, audiences at the Open University Regional Centre, Leeds and the University of Glasgow and an anonymous referee for comments. 2 of being such that logical and mathematical truths hold, non-trivially necessary. It is a necessary condition on a property’s being essential to an object that it is had of necessity. In the case of concrete objects, some such properties are discoverable by partly empirical means. -
97 Herman Cappelen, Tamar Szabo Gendler, and John Hawthorne, Eds
Philosophy in Review XXXVII (June 2017), no. 3 Herman Cappelen, Tamar Szabo Gendler, and John Hawthorne, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press 2016. 688 pp. $150.00 USD (Hardcover ISBN 9780199668779). A working assumption within philosophy is that from the point of view of research, philosophers make use of a diverse set of methods. This includes, though is not limited to, argumentation, explanation, analysis, description, interpretation and so on. A further point to note is that the use of such methods may be found among practicing philosophers both today as well as within the history of philosophy, and likewise across diverse disciplines and philosophical movements from pragmatism to logical positivism, phenomenology to deconstructionism. What we find is that although philosophers may disagree on most philosophical issues, the question of whether or not philosophy simply makes use of method is hardly controversial. A further assumption that might be made is that one or another method serves best to characterize the philosophical endeavor. Here we might point to reason and argument as a primary instance of this. Since ancient times, philosophers have clearly set themselves apart from the other domains of inquiry in the use of argument, reasoned discourse and debate. The problem with such an assumption, however, is that it is far from self-evident. Although philosophy certainly makes use of argumentation, since at least the 20th century, the use of rational speculation and demonstration has tended to diminish in favor of other approaches far more critical in nature, e.g., analysis and description. A further objection may be found today in the increasing use of empirical evidence as a foundation for philosophical inquiry, so-called ‘experimental’ philosophy, which in many ways opposes traditional ‘armchair’ methods. -
Lewis on Conventions and Meaning
Lewis on conventions and meaning phil 93914 Jeff Speaks April 3, 2008 Lewis (1975) takes the conventions in terms of which meaning can be analyzed to be conventions of truthfulness and trust in a language. His account may be adapted to state an analysis of a sentence having a given meaning in a population as follows: x means p in a population G≡df (1a) ordinarily, if a member of G utters x, the speaker believes p, (1b) ordinarily, if a member of G hears an utterance of x, he comes to believe p, unless he already believed this, (2) members of G believe that (1a) and (1b) are true, (3) the expectation that (1a) and (1b) will continue to be true gives members of G a good reason to continue to utter x only if they believe p, and to expect the same of other members of G, (4) there is among the members of G a general preference for people to continue to conform to regularities (1a) and (1b) (5) there is an alternative regularity to (1a) and (1b) which is such that its being generally conformed to by some members of G would give other speakers reason to conform to it (6) all of these facts are mutually known by members of G Some objections: • Clause (5) should be dropped, because, as Burge (1975) argued, this clause makes Lewis's conditions on linguistic meaning too strong. Burge pointed out that (5) need not be mutually known by speakers for them to speak a meaningful language. Consider, for example, the case in which speakers believe that there is no possible language other than their own, and hence that there is no alternative regularity to (1a) and (1b). -
Following the Argument Where It Leads
Following The Argument Where It Leads Thomas Kelly Princeton University [email protected] Abstract: Throughout the history of western philosophy, the Socratic injunction to ‘follow the argument where it leads’ has exerted a powerful attraction. But what is it, exactly, to follow the argument where it leads? I explore this intellectual ideal and offer a modest proposal as to how we should understand it. On my proposal, following the argument where it leaves involves a kind of modalized reasonableness. I then consider the relationship between the ideal and common sense or 'Moorean' responses to revisionary philosophical theorizing. 1. Introduction Bertrand Russell devoted the thirteenth chapter of his History of Western Philosophy to the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. He concluded his discussion with a rather unflattering assessment: There is little of the true philosophic spirit in Aquinas. He does not, like the Platonic Socrates, set out to follow wherever the argument may lead. He is not engaged in an inquiry, the result of which it is impossible to know in advance. Before he begins to philosophize, he already knows the truth; it is declared in the Catholic faith. If he can find apparently rational arguments for some parts of the faith, so much the better: If he cannot, he need only fall back on revelation. The finding of arguments for a conclusion given in advance is not philosophy, but special pleading. I cannot, therefore, feel that he deserves to be put on a level with the best philosophers either of Greece or of modern times (1945: 463). The extent to which this is a fair assessment of Aquinas is controversial.1 My purpose in what follows, however, is not to defend Aquinas; nor is it to substantiate the charges that Russell brings against him. -
COMMENTS and CRITICISM WORDS on WORDS* Awthorne and Lepore’S Paper Begins Thus
504 the journal of philosophy COMMENTS AND CRITICISM WORDS ON WORDS* awthorne and Lepore’s paper begins thus: H “ ” In his seminal paper Words, David Kaplan addresses a pair of questions that have been largely neglected by the philosophical community: (i) Under what conditions are two utterances utterances of the same word? (ii) What are words? That these questions have not received much attention is rather surpris- ing: after all, philosophers and linguists frequently appeal to consider- ations about word and sentence identity in connection with a variety of puzzles and problems that are foundational to the very subject matter of philosophy of language and linguistics. Kaplan’s attention to words is thus to be applauded. And there is no doubt that his discussion contains many useful insights.1 [Emphasis missing in the original.] As we say in the Passover service, Dayenu. That alone would have been sufficient. Unfortunately, as I have discovered to my sorrow, papers that begin like this always continue, at length, in a different vein. In fact, the very next word in their introduction is “Nevertheless.” I will respond to some of their criticisms, but I want to say at the outset that in my view, when you publish something, you put it out there for all eyes to see from their own perspective. And so, I believe * This article is an attempt to reconstruct a paper delivered to a symposium at the American Philosophical Association meeting in San Francisco on April 3, 2010. It spe- cifically aims to do no more than that. In order to avoid an endless back and forth, we all agreed to publish what was presented, rather than second thoughts based on what the others had presented. -
On Categories and a Posteriori Necessity: a Phenomenological Echo
© 2012 The Author Metaphilosophy © 2012 Metaphilosophy LLC and Blackwell Publishing Ltd Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA METAPHILOSOPHY Vol. 43, Nos. 1–2, January 2012 0026-1068 ON CATEGORIES AND A POSTERIORI NECESSITY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL ECHO M. J. GARCIA-ENCINAS Abstract: This article argues for two related theses. First, it defends a general thesis: any kind of necessity, including metaphysical necessity, can only be known a priori. Second, however, it also argues that the sort of a priori involved in modal metaphysical knowledge is not related to imagination or any sort of so-called epistemic possibility. Imagination is neither a proof of possibility nor a limit to necessity. Rather, modal metaphysical knowledge is built on intuition of philo- sophical categories and the structures they form. Keywords: a priori, categories, intuition, metaphysical necessity. Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters. —Francisco de Goya (1746–1828), The Caprices, plate 43, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters 1. Introduction Statements of fact are necessarily true when their truth-maker facts cannot but be the case. Statements of fact are contingently true when their truth-maker facts might not have been the case. I shall argue that modal knowledge, that is, knowledge that a (true/false) statement is necessarily/ contingently true, must be a priori knowledge, even if knowledge that the statement is true or false can be a posteriori. In particular, justified accept- ance of necessary facts requires a priori modal insight concerning some category which they instantiate. In this introduction, the first part of the article, I maintain that Kripke claimed that the knowledge that a statement has its truth-value as a matter of necessity/contingency is a priori founded—even when knowl- edge of its truth/falsehood is a posteriori. -
Philosophy 539/Theory of Knowledge: Evidence
Philosophy 539/Theory of Knowledge: Evidence Princeton University Spring 2008 Wednesdays 1:30-4:20, Marx 201 An examination of select issues at the intersection of philosophy of science and epistemology, with a focus on the theme of ‘evidence’. Recent work on the concept of evidence, with some attention to both informal and formal approaches. Williamson’s conception of evidence as knowledge. Evidence and epistemic diversity. How should we think of evidence which bears on philosophical theories? (Is there some distinctive kind of ‘philosophical’ evidence, e.g., ‘intuitions’, or is such evidence ultimately of a piece with scientific evidence?) In what respects (if any) does common sense provide a kind of data for philosophy? The role of normative ideals for believers who have evidence of their own finitude and fallibility. Bas van Fraassen Thomas Kelly 219 1879 Hall 221 1879 Hall [email protected] [email protected] Office hrs: Th.12:30-1:20 + by appt. Office hrs: F 12-12:50 + by appt. 1. February 6th. Introduction/Overview 2. February 13th. Evidence: What Is It? Williamson on evidence *Timothy Williamson, “Evidence”, Chapter 9 of his Knowledge and Its Limits (Oxford University Press 2000), pp.184-208. Thomas Kelly, “Evidence”, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available online at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evidence/. 3. February 20th. Evidence and Epistemic Diversity (I). *Roger White, “Epistemic Permissiveness” in John Hawthorne (ed.) Philosophical Perspectives, vol.19: Epistemology (Blackwell 2005), pp.445-459. Bas’ voluntarist response. 2 4. February 27th. Evidence and Epistemic Diversity (II). *Thomas Kelly, “Peer Disagreement and Higher Order Evidence” forthcoming in Richard Feldman and Ted Warfield (eds.) Disagreement (Oxford University Press 2008). -
Generalized Molecular Formulas in Logical Atomism
Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy An Argument for Completely General Facts: Volume 9, Number 7 Generalized Molecular Formulas in Logical Editor in Chief Atomism Audrey Yap, University of Victoria Landon D. C. Elkind Editorial Board Annalisa Coliva, UC Irvine In his 1918 logical atomism lectures, Russell argued that there are Vera Flocke, Indiana University, Bloomington no molecular facts. But he posed a problem for anyone wanting Henry Jackman, York University to avoid molecular facts: we need truth-makers for generaliza- Frederique Janssen-Lauret, University of Manchester tions of molecular formulas, but such truth-makers seem to be Kevin C. Klement, University of Massachusetts both unavoidable and to have an abominably molecular charac- Consuelo Preti, The College of New Jersey ter. Call this the problem of generalized molecular formulas. I clarify Marcus Rossberg, University of Connecticut the problem here by distinguishing two kinds of generalized Anthony Skelton, Western University molecular formula: incompletely generalized molecular formulas Mark Textor, King’s College London and completely generalized molecular formulas. I next argue that, if empty worlds are logically possible, then the model-theoretic Editors for Special Issues and truth-functional considerations that are usually given ad- Sandra Lapointe, McMaster University dress the problem posed by the first kind of formula, but not the Alexander Klein, McMaster University problem posed by the second kind. I then show that Russell’s Review Editors commitments in 1918 provide an answer to the problem of com- Sean Morris, Metropolitan State University of Denver pletely generalized molecular formulas: some truth-makers will Sanford Shieh, Wesleyan University be non-atomic facts that have no constituents. -
The Transience of Possibility Reina Hayaki
Forthcoming in the European Journal of Analytic Philosophy (2006). The Transience of Possibility Reina Hayaki ABSTRACT. The standard view of metaphysical necessity is that it is truth in all possible worlds, and therefore that the correct modal logic for metaphysical necessity is S5, in models of which all worlds are accessible from each other. I argue that S5 cannot be the correct logic for metaphysical necessity because accessibility is not symmetric: there are possible worlds that are accessible from ours but from which our world is not accessible. There are (or could be) some individuals who, if they had not existed, could not have existed. Once the possibility of such individuals is lost, it is gone forever. 1. Truth in all possible worlds? It is now widely (though not universally) accepted that metaphysical necessity is to be distinguished from logical necessity. A proposition is logically necessary if it is a theorem of logic. The notion of logical necessity is not without its problems. When we say “a theorem of logic”, which logic is appropriate for this definition? Should we use mere first-order logic, or something more powerful? (Are axioms of second-order logic logically necessary truths?) What if the relevant logic is not complete, so that some true sentences are not theorems? Are all mathematical truths logically necessary? Or, given the apparent failure of efforts to reduce mathematics to logic, should we say that some 1 mathematical propositions are not logically necessary but perhaps “mathematically necessary”, relative to a particular system of mathematics? How should we adjudicate wrangling between adherents of mutually incompatible logics, such as classical and non- classical logics? Regardless of how we answer these questions, the notion of logical necessity is at heart a syntactic one. -
Redalyc.Logical Consequence for Nominalists
THEORIA. Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia ISSN: 0495-4548 [email protected] Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea España ROSSBERG, Marcus; COHNITZ, Daniel Logical Consequence for Nominalists THEORIA. Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia, vol. 24, núm. 2, 2009, pp. 147- 168 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea Donostia-San Sebastián, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=339730809003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Logical Consequence for Nominalists Marcus ROSSBERG and Daniel COHNITZ BIBLID [0495-4548 (2009) 24: 65; pp. 147-168] ABSTRACT: It has repeatedly been argued that nominalistic programmes in the philosophy of mathematics fail, since they will at some point or other involve the notion of logical consequence which is unavailable to the nominalist. In this paper we will argue that this is not the case. Using an idea of Nelson Goodman and W.V.Quine's which they developed in Goodman and Quine (1947) and supplementing it with means that should be nominalistically acceptable, we present a way to explicate logical consequence in a nominalistically acceptable way. Keywords: Philosophy of mathematics, nominalism, logical consequence, inferentialism, Nelson Goodman, W.V. Quine. 1. The Argument from Logical Consequence We do not have any strong convictions concerning the question of the existence or non- existence of abstract objects. We do, however, believe that ontological fastidiousness is prima facie a good attitude to adopt. -
Nonsense and Illusions of Thought 4
NONSENSE AND ILLUSIONS OF THOUGHT1 Herman Cappelen Arché/University of St Andrews and CSMN/University of Oslo Note that this is the penultimate version of the paper published in Philosophical Perspectives, 2013 This paper addresses four issues: 1. What is nonsense? 2. Is nonsense possible? 3. Is nonsense actual? 4. Why do the answers to (1)-(3) matter, if at all? These are my answers: 1. A sentence (or an utterance of one) is nonsense if it fails to have or express content (more on ‘express’, ‘have’, and ‘content’ below). This is a version of a view that can be found in Carnap (1959), Ayer (1936), and, maybe, the early Wittgenstein (1922). The notion I propose abstracts away from their favored (but wrong) theories of what meaning is. It is a notion of nonsense that can be appealed to by all semantic frameworks and all theories of what content is, but structurally it is just like e.g. Carnap’s. Nonsense, as I construe it, is accompanied by illusions of thought (and I think that was part of Carnap’s conception as well). 2. Yes. In particular, I examine three arguments for the impossibility of illusion of thought (which on my construal accompanies linguistic nonsense) and they are all unsound. 3. There might be a lot of nonsense, both in ordinary and theoretical speech. In particular, it is likely that much of contemporary philosophy consists of nonsense. Empirical work is required to determine just how much. 4. The struggle to avoid nonsense (and achieve meaningfulness) is at least as 1 Thanks to Paul Boghossian, Jessica Brown, Josh Dever, Olav Gjelsvik, John Hawthorne, Tom Hodgson, Margot Strohminger, and Åsa Wikforss for helpful discussions of the issues discussed in this paper.