Comments

  • is this argument valid but unsound? What is the form called? Help.
    Page number? I can't find the passage, and "besides from" sounds like a typo.

    Anyway, I don't know much about Kant, but I won't let that stop me...

    He's just fleshing out the quote from Kant.

    Kant says: you can decipher the nature of a thing without seeing all its aspects. From P don't infer Q.

    Guyer says: Kant does decipher the nature of the noumenon without claiming to see all its aspects. P, but we don't infer Q. And by the way, the nature thus deciphered is to manifest or objectify as human will. Whatever that means. But how this nature was deciphered isn't mentioned. You seem to be hoping the decipherment is argued or explained. It's just given, as part of P.
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    "Santa wears a red hat" is true.Banno

    Sure. As fiction. Fictionally true. It's a fiction that "Santa wears a red hat" is true. So, it's false. Logic with oxymorons. Great fun!
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    Yet, we can instantiate him freely in movies,Shawn

    Do you mean, depict him freely?

    We can, but not in the sense of pointing his likenesses at him. Only in the sense of making Santa-pictures.

    See https://monoskop.org/images/1/1b/Goodman_Nelson_Languages_of_Art.pdf pp. 21.
  • Universal Mind/Consciousness?


    I was attempting a pun (hence the apology). Con artist. But I see now it doesn't work on the word pronounced properly.
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    I can point to {"winged", "godlike", "stallion"} and give it the name "Pegasus".RussellA

    But Pegasus flies. Your set of words doesn't.
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    I think that's quite stringent.Shawn

    The indirect reference to Santa stories and pictures and actual beardy old men is fairly free, isn't it?

    Santa isn't an individualShawn

    Do you mean there is no actual person answering to the usual descriptions and hence named by the relevant tokens of the word "Santa"? (Good.)

    and yet is in the domain of discourse.Shawn

    Well perhaps you are talking here about the name "Santa" (or relevant tokens of it), and not some corresponding person? "Santa" is a name appearing in a declaration of the domain of discourse?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    In the sense that fictional is not necessarily contradictory to entity.RussellA

    Fair enough. Do they say that non-actual is not necessarily contradictory to actual?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    But generally speaking, this distinction is more semantic than substantive.Manuel

    What distinction? That between a thought and what it's a thought about? You've lost me. My thought about Hitler isn't substantively different from Hitler?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?


    I'm with Quine. And Goodman. Words often refer to (or are pretended to refer to, in acts of referring, which are only a game) actual things. Sometimes they fail to refer directly to actual things. Because there's no such thing. That doesn't stop them referring indirectly (but only indirectly) to other things. E.g. to actual Santa stories and pictures, and actual beardy old men.
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    I don't see why Santa Claus would be a "non-thing". It's a mental construction of a person...Manuel

    So Santa is the thought? Or the person thought about? Or both, or neither?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    The act of referring to a specific thingManuel

    So we're back where we started. Among this subset of the things we do with language, the acts of referring to specific things, are there acts of referring to specific non-things?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    People refer, not words themselves.Manuel

    But what do they refer to?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?


    Do you mean, these people deny that "fictional entity" is an oxymoron? Or that they have found that reasoning with oxymorons can end well?
  • In what sense does Santa Claus exist?
    I attempted treating the problem as a reference issue between fictional entities [...]Shawn

    I mean, I'm guessing that didn't end well, as "fictional entity" is an oxymoron?
  • Universal Mind/Consciousness?
    Conatus : a natural tendency, impulse, or striving : conation. used in SpinozismGnomon

    and by conatists

    (Sorry)
  • What does "irony" mean?
    Altogether now:

    It's like a mode of speeeeeech
    That you just can't define...
  • What does "real" mean?
    Set your criticism out.Banno

    I did.

    I suspect that in this case you failed to see I was using quote marks to clarify reference to -F-r-o-d-o- tokens, and then to talk about the supposed referent of such tokens. Not caring for the niceties of use and mention, you might well have taken my -"-F-r-o-d-o-"- tokens to refer to one or more -"-F-r-o-d-o-"- tokens, and then supposed that I was talking about the referent of these: i.e. -F-r-o-d-o- tokens. Had that been an appropriate reading, I would indeed have been talking about the mechanics of quotation. But I was using quotation, to attempt clarity (god help me). Not mentioning it.bongo fury

    I always do.

    https://thephilosophyforum.com/search?Search=Banno+use+mention&expand=yes&child=&forums=&or=Relevance&discenc=&mem=&tag=&pg=1&date=All&Checkboxes%5B%5D=titles&Checkboxes%5B%5D=WithReplies&or=Relevance&user=bongo+fury&disc=&Checkboxes%5B%5D=child
  • What does "real" mean?
    But Banno is, so far as I observe, confusing the referent of "Frodo" in the real sense with the referent of "Frodo" in the Ryle sense.bongo fury

    What's certainly not the case is that the distinction between fiction and nonfiction is to do with quotation, as ↪bongo fury seems to think.Banno

    I wasn't claiming to explain fiction according to some theory of quotation. I was alleging that your reasoning about fiction and nonfiction is spoilt by your not bothering to distinguish use and mention, nor to follow the usual guidance of quote marks for that purpose.

    I suspect that in this case you failed to see I was using quote marks to clarify reference to -F-r-o-d-o- tokens, and then to talk about the supposed referent of such tokens. Not caring for the niceties of use and mention, you might well have taken my -"-F-r-o-d-o-"- tokens to refer to one or more -"-F-r-o-d-o-"- tokens, and then supposed that I was talking about the referent of these: i.e. -F-r-o-d-o- tokens. Had that been an appropriate reading, I would indeed have been talking about the mechanics of quotation. But I was using quotation, to attempt clarity (god help me). Not mentioning it.

    I refer him to Davidson's landmark dismissal of Quine's account of quotation, with
    Quine says that quotation"...has a certain anomalous feature""
    — Quotation
    Banno

    This supports the foregoing diagnosis. You seem to hope that Davidson achieved or intended a landmark dismissal of all pedantry concerning use and mention. To say nothing of distributing quote marks in pairs.

    It was an interesting paper, even though off-topic here, as explained above. But I don't see how his own proposed treatment of

    Quine says that quotation "...has a certain anomalous feature"

    reveals it as anything more problematic than an indirect quotation containing a direct one.

    (As if the entire text of Lord of the Rings were but one proper name.)Banno

    See above.
  • What does "real" mean?
    Ryle objected somewhere to my dictum that to be is to be the value of a variable, arguing that the values of variables are expressions and hence that my dictum repudiates all things except expressions. Clearly, then, we have to distinguish between values of variables in the real sense and values of variables in the Ryle sense. To confuse these is, again, to confuse use and mention. Professor Marcus is not, so far as I observe, confusing them.Quine, Reply to Professor Marcus

    But @Banno is, so far as I observe, confusing the referent of "Frodo" in the real sense with the referent of "Frodo" in the Ryle sense.

    Likewise anyone who says, which happens quite a lot round here, something like "to be is to be the subject of a sentence".
  • What does "real" mean?
    And his point was that the referent (if any) of "Fido" is the dog so named, whereas people (and at least half of philosophers) think this can't be right: reference, being logical after all, must be from word to other word.
    — bongo fury

    Like who?
    Srap Tasmaner

    Ok... from word to other word, or to idea or concept. Then who not? You, me and Goodman and Quine, apparently.
  • What does "real" mean?
    All the trouble is caused by the theory that nouns typically stand for things or persons. Refer to them. Denote them. Point to them. Correspond to them. What have you.

    It's true, or worth assuming. But it has limitations, and also an inherent technical complexity, which is the distinction between use and mention. This is conveniently (and often harmlessly) ignored, even in technical discourse like maths. So maintaining it requires considerable skill, but isn't always necessary for the practical success of the discourse. And in the end the underlying theory (word denotes object) loses plausibility.

    Its limitations get exaggerated. E.g. the idea that it can't explain fiction without spoiling it. (Not proven.)

    And it gets to seem far-fetched, itself. Poor Quine, after taking such pains to clarify and simplify existence claims, with his famous formula, found that people's natural understanding of "value of a variable" wasn't his. He had meant (by analogy with algebra) the number itself, not a numeral or some expression suitable as a substitute. And his point was that the referent (if any) of "Fido" is the dog so named, whereas people (and at least half of philosophers) think this can't be right: reference, being logical after all, must be from word to other word.

    But we shouldn't be surprised. Getting one thing to stand in for another is asking for trouble. Even where we immediately clarify the distinction between the two, we resort to proxies. Perhaps we draw a diagram, with an arrow joining a "Fido"-inscription to a dog-picture. Well, this makes sense. Surely we hadn't wanted to draw an arrow in the air from the token to the slobbering mutt itself?

    And hence the descent into "to be is to be the subject of a sentence" etc.
  • form and name of this argument?
    one thing, in this argument (as such) we are dealing with an exclusive disjunction right??KantDane21

    Well,

    (P ∧ -Q) ⋁ (Q ∧ -P)bongo fury

    isn't an argument but does imply the exclusive disjunction of P and Q. (Denying their conjunction.) Whereas

    1. (A → ~B) v (A & B)
    2. (A → ~B) v ~(~A v ~B)
    3. (A → ~B) v ~(A → ~B)
    Srap Tasmaner

    is an argument but doesn't imply the exclusive disjunction (doesn't deny the conjunction of P and Q). Rather, it takes that denial for granted:

    B = x is a noumenon (and ~B = x is an appearance)Srap Tasmaner

    But yes, mutual exclusivity of P and Q is needed to get from

    P ⋁ QKantDane21

    to

    P→ -Q
    Q→ -P
    KantDane21
  • form and name of this argument?
    "Either all cognition is cognition of appearance, in which case there can be no cognition of noumena, or there can be cognition of the noumenon, in which case cognition is not essentially cognition of appearance"

    P- all cognition is of appearance.
    Q- [there can be] cognition of noumenon.
    KantDane21

    (P ∧ -Q) ⋁ (Q ∧ -P)

    (Not an argument)
  • Is there any difference between a universal and a resemblance relation?
    How many resemblance relations are there? Just the one? Or (e.g.) one for each property?
  • Is there any difference between a universal and a resemblance relation?
    Ah well it might be what you're looking for? Constructing qualities/properties from (and reducing them to) similarity data? (Link to pdf now fixed.)
  • Is there any difference between a universal and a resemblance relation?
    But is there any reason why not identify the universal with the resemblance relation itself?litewave

    Are you (and others) referring to Carnap's Logical Structure of the World ?
  • Poem meaning


    The chatter of resignation, "They don't mean to but they do", always plays to me to the tune of Stardust: google tells me the line is "and I am once again with you".
  • "What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer."
    I'm not sure we have an everyday word for only being disjoint, that is, being a subset of the complement.Srap Tasmaner

    antonymbongo fury
    Antonymbongo fury
    antonymbongo fury
    antonymbongo fury
    antonymbongo fury
  • A Novel Ontology (Abstract Objects)
    Yes, it can be encoded in symbols, in bits, whatever;Art48

    Indeed. Aka a "text".

    but what is it irrespective of any encoding?Art48

    Nothing. Don't be greedy.
  • "What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer."
    John: The book is in my roomMichael

    Our upcoming discourse on this topic will be safely and perpetually interpretable as pointing all appropriate paraphrases of "the book" and of "is in my room" at the same region of space-time.

    Jane: What you say is wrong because the book is not in your roomMichael

    I predict that our discourse will either reject that basis for interpretation or become far less agreeable.

    his assertion being true or false has nothing to do with what he believes (or what Jane believes), and everything to do with whether or not the book is in his room.Michael

    But it has everything to do with agreement about the reference of words in the discourse, as well as the things thereby referred to. No truth without language.
  • An analysis of truth and metaphysics
    1. Tq <-> p ... premiseTonesInDeepFreeze

    Realists would argue that there is no connection; that there is some possible world where it is raining but where nothing is uttered.Michael

    Do you mean where p without Tq?

    Or where not even p, because that's an utterance?

    But if uttering p is ok to describe (from outside it) the state of some utterance-free world, why not also Tq?
  • An analysis of truth and metaphysics
    what logic am I using when I say that if John is bald then John exists?
    — Michael

    "John exists" is not expressed in mere predicate logic. You need modal logic for it.
    TonesInDeepFreeze

    Why not (with "J" for "is John" and "B" for "is Bald"),

    ∃x (J(x) ∧ B(x)) => ∃x (J(x))

    ?
  • Do the past and future exist?
    Now to say that the rock exists is not to say something about the rock. Existence is not a predicate in the way being granite is.Banno

    Only insofar as our favourite logic treats it with a special predicate (ish) called a quantifier.

    ∃x T(x) ∧ R(x)

    But in other words,

    An x exists such that x is this and x rocks.

    Hmm, how about a rockifier?

    Яx T(x) ∧ E(x)

    An x rocks such that x is this and x exists.

    Obviously this would be silly. But the utility of the canonical expression is in requiring an upfront commitment as to the perfectly sensible question whether or not such an x exists.
  • Do the past and future exist?
    Things in the past existed, things in the present exist, and things in the future will exist.Michael

    Or, e.g. for physics, some existing things are spatio-temporal regions wholly earlier than your present point of view, some temporally overlap that point of view, and some are wholly later.

    On the other hand if "yesterday's rock", "today's rock", and "tomorrow's rock" refer to the same object [or region of space-time], and if that object [or region not only] exists [but also temporally overlaps your p.o.v.], then yesterday's rock [not only] exists [but also overlaps] and tomorrow's rock [not only] exists [but also overlaps].Michael

    Yes, but any temporal slice of the region wholly earlier than today exists, and so does any temporal slice wholly later.

    Perhaps a more relevant question would be "does the [temporally overlapping part of the] rock exist with the properties [that existing but temporally non-overlapping parts of] it [have] had in the past and/or will have in the future"?Michael

    where Fx means "x is a fairy".Michael

    I.e. the existing space-time region is a fairy.
  • Logic of truth
    They are quite clearly not presented as a single quote, because the four quotations are individually numbered 1), 2), 3) and 4).RussellA

    Not as separate quotations, no they aren't. I had to go to the article to discover the editing.

    You have the document so obviously know they aren't a single quote.RussellA

    Oh that's ok then? No, it isn't. Don't edit when quoting.

    The important knowledge to be gained from these quotations is that Tarski can use one expression to denote one or more objects, concepts or expressions.RussellA

    Trying to make Tarski look confused isn't helping you.
  • Logic of truth
    When an article is edited, the article is changed.RussellA

    Are you suggesting you quoted from a different edition of this article? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://sites.ualberta.ca/~francisp/Phil426/TarskiTruth1944.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjWm9HtsZ76AhX8S0EAHZ8tANMQFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2wFEunA8J8bXe0NoxT516Z

    If so, grateful for a link. Otherwise, how on earth are your four (three??) quotes
    neither edited nor paraphrased, they were verbatim and in context.RussellA

    They are presented as a single quote; they come from 3 different pages; and your number 3 is a half sentence seemingly about "denote" and completed by number 4 that turns out to be about "true".
  • Logic of truth
    In summary, the meaning of "denote" is much debated,RussellA

    Not really. In maths and logic it covers at least "designate", "name", "refer to", "map to", "point to", "apply to", "be satisfied by", and "be true of"; and for Goodman and others also "describe" and "depict".

    It goes from word to thing, not from thing to word, or from word to word.*

    and words do more than pointing to snow and unicorns in the world.RussellA

    Maybe. It gets interesting. But hopeless if you misunderstand "denote".

    3) While the words "designates," "satisfies," and "defines" express relations (between certain expressions and the objects "referred to" by these expressions)
    4) We should reconcile ourselves with the fact that we are confronted, not with one concept, but with several different concepts which are denoted by one word
    RussellA

    Don't edit when quoting.

    * Except where the object denoted is itself a word. But not from word to co-referring word.
  • Ritual: Secular or otherwise
    Applied literally, a magic ceremony.

    Applied more widely, to habits more readily than instincts, I'd have thought, anything it's amusing to compare with a magic ceremony.