tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21308815.post2543856296114308553..comments2023-10-08T15:51:17.426+00:00Comments on Beyond Necessity: Thin existence and circularityEdward Ockhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07583379503310147119noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21308815.post-69270203438616453052012-05-18T20:02:56.964+00:002012-05-18T20:02:56.964+00:00Defining mutton as lamb, and defining lamb as mutt...Defining mutton as lamb, and defining lamb as mutton, would be circular.<br /><br />I'm not sure if that's more analogous to what Bill is getting at, or not, though.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15847046461397802596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21308815.post-2219802456122886952012-05-18T19:36:16.208+00:002012-05-18T19:36:16.208+00:00Ed,
Can you explain what the disagreement is real...Ed,<br /><br />Can you explain what the disagreement is really about? I do not have access to Maverick's articles, so I am not quite sure what he is referring to. I argue for a modal theory of being, so I'm not unfamiliar with the concept, but I am still not sure what he or your are arguing. Your words presume too much in the background.<br /><br />It looks like another realist vs. nominalist clash, but I might just have that on the brain lately.<br /><br />What's the point? Is being nothing more than existence? If it is more than existence, then we likely have a modal theory of being in which something can be said to be real even though it does not exist. But I am speaking to my own knowledge that may not pertain to Maverick.khadimirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12960757465883819380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21308815.post-43587258690076461452012-05-18T18:16:42.031+00:002012-05-18T18:16:42.031+00:00Mutton and lamb were just an example. Choose your...Mutton and lamb were just an example. Choose your favourite pair of synonyms. <br /><br />>>whereas 2 is about concepts and existence.<br /><br />That's why I said 'broadly equivalent'. I wanted to use Bill's actual example. <br /><br />>> “the concept of mutton is presupposed by the concept of lamb”<br /><br />All I meant was that the concepts are identical (on the assumption the corresponding words are synonyms). And it was a parody of Bill's argument.Edward Ockhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07583379503310147119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21308815.post-66366684804089363332012-05-18T16:32:40.522+00:002012-05-18T16:32:40.522+00:00I still have to muse about this, especially since ...I still have to muse about this, especially since I can detect background assumptions with which I may not be conversant, but I have a thought.<br /><br />Do both your 1 and 2 implicate concepts? I could read 1 as not being about concepts, but existence, whereas 2 is about concepts and existence. It is not clear to me, though I may very likely be confused, that you are distinguishing between a singular existence and the concept of that existence. Given your example, of “lamb” and “mutton,” I have doubts that they refer to the same concept, though my doubts come from an epistemic viewpoint. Any actual concept of lamb and mutton need not be identical, and unless we are platonists about concepts, do we not say what they have in common is the existent thing, the referent, and not the concept? But then, I understand that there is no “general existent” or “lambness” and thus no singular existential reference for “lamb” unless the term is used demonstratively. I suspect this last point is generating the technical discussion.<br /><br />But, going back to your own example, I don’t see how it is necessary that “the concept of mutton is presupposed by the concept of lamb” in any actual human thinker. Perhaps I am not approach the discussion from the right analytic framework, e.g., from metaphysical speculation wherein I would bracket “in any actual human thinker.”<br /><br />I thought that the first duty of a philosopher was to be wise? Enabling understanding comes second in my book.khadimirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12960757465883819380noreply@blogger.com