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Bradley's Regress
Bradley's regress is a philosophical problem concerning the nature of relations. It is named after F. H. Bradley who discussed the problem in his 1893 book '' Appearance and Reality''. It bears a close kinship to the issue of the unity of the proposition. Description Bradley raises the problem while discussing the bundle theory of objects, according to which an object is merely a "bundle" of properties. This theory raises the question of how the various properties that together comprise an object are related when they in fact comprise an object. More generally, the question that arises is what has to be the case for any two things to be related. Bradley's Regress appears to show that the notion of two things being related generates an infinite regress. Suppose, for example, that ''a'' respects ''b''. This state of affairs seems to involve three things: ''a'', ''b'', and the relation of respecting. For the state of affairs of ''a'' respecting ''b'' to obtain, it doesn't ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relation (philosophy)
Relations are ways in which several entities stand to each other. They usually connect distinct entities but some associate an entity with itself. The adicity of a relation is the number of entities it connects. The direction of a relation is the order in which the elements are related to each other. The converse of a relation carries the same information and has the opposite direction, like the contrast between "two is less than five" and "five is greater than two". Both relations and properties express features in reality with a key difference being that relations apply to several entities while properties belong to a single entity. Many types of relations are discussed in the academic literature. Internal relations, like resemblance, depend only on the monadic properties of the relata. They contrast with external relations, like spatial relations, which express characteristics that go beyond what their relata are like. Formal relations, like identity, involve abstract a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gottlob Frege
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philosophy, concentrating on the philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, logic, and Philosophy of mathematics, mathematics. Though he was largely ignored during his lifetime, Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932), Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), and, to some extent, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) introduced his work to later generations of philosophers. Frege is widely considered to be the greatest logician since Aristotle, and one of the most profound philosophers of mathematics ever. His contributions include the History of logic#Rise of modern logic, development of modern logic in the ''Begriffsschrift'' and work in the foundations of mathematics. His book the ''Foundations of Arithmetic'' is the seminal text of the logicist project, and is ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fact
A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For example, "This sentence contains words." accurately describes a linguistic fact, and "The Sun is a star" accurately describes an astronomical fact. Further, "Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States" and "Abraham Lincoln was assassinated" both accurately describe history, historical facts. Generally speaking, facts are independent of belief and of knowledge and opinion. Facts are different from inferences, theories, values, and Object (philosophy), objects. Etymology and usage The word ''fact'' derives from the Latin ''factum''. It was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done or performed"a meaning now obsolete outside the law."Fact" (1a). Oxford English Dictionary_2d_ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Man Argument
''Parmenides'' () is one of the dialogues of Plato. It is widely considered to be one of the most challenging and enigmatic of Plato's dialogues. The ''Parmenides'' purports to be an account of a meeting between the two great philosophers of the Eleatic school, Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, and a young Socrates. The occasion of the meeting was the reading by Zeno of his treatise defending Parmenidean monism against those partisans of plurality who asserted that Parmenides' supposition that there is a ''one'' gives rise to intolerable absurdities and contradictions. The dialogue is set during a supposed meeting between Parmenides and Zeno of Elea in Socrates' hometown of Athens. This dialogue is chronologically the earliest of all as Socrates is only nineteen years old here. It is also notable that he takes the position of the student here while Parmenides serves as the lecturer. Most scholars agree that the dialogue does not record historic conversations, and is most likely an in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unity Of The Proposition
In philosophy, the unity of the proposition is the problem of explaining how a sentence in the indicative mood expresses more than just what a list of proper names expresses. History The problem was discussed under this name by Bertrand Russell, but can be traced back to Plato. In Plato's ''Sophist'', the simplest kind of sentence consists of just a proper name and a universal term (i.e. a predicate). The name refers to or picks out some individual object, and the predicate then says something about that individual. The difficulty is to explain how the predicate does this. If, as Plato thinks, the predicate is the name of some universal concept or form, how do we explain how the sentence comes to be true or false? If, for example, "Socrates is wise" consists of just a name for Socrates, and a name for the universal concept of Wisdom, how could the sentence be true ''or'' false? In either case, the "Socrates" signifies Socrates, and the predicate signifies Wisdom. But the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonism everything is derived from The One. In this view only the One is ontologically fundamental or prior to everything else. * Existence monism posits that, strictly speaking, there exists only a single thing, the universe, which can only be artificially and arbitrarily divided into many things. * Substance monism asserts that a variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance. Substance monism posits that only one kind of substance exists, although many things may be made up of this substance, e.g., matter or mind. * Dual-aspect monism is the view that the mental and the physical are two aspects of, or perspectives on, the same substance. * Neutral monism believes the fundamental nature of reality to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Della Rocca
Michael Della Rocca (born 1962) is Sterling Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and a specialist in early modern philosophy, especially Spinoza, and in metaphysics. Education and career Della Rocca earned his B.A. at Harvard University and his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Benson Mates. He joined the Yale faculty in 1991, and was promoted to Sterling Professor in 2021. Among his doctoral students is Yitzhak Melamed. From 2001 to 2010, Della Rocca served as the chair of Yale's Department of Philosophy, where he played a crucial role in transforming the department from a state of "disarray" to one of the leading philosophy programs in the United States. During his tenure, he focused on strategic faculty appointments and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, significantly improving the department's national and international reputation. He is also known for his mentorship of graduate students, encouraging them to develop the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William F
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will (given name), Will or Wil, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill (given name), Bill, Billie (given name), Billie, and Billy (name), Billy. A common Irish people, Irish form is Liam. Scottish people, Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie). Female forms include Willa, Willemina, Wilma (given name), Wilma and Wilhelmina (given name), Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the German language, German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Bergmann
Gustav Bergmann (; May 4, 1906 – April 21, 1987) was an Austrian-American philosopher. He studied at the University of Vienna and was a member of the Vienna Circle. Bergmann was influenced by the philosophers Moritz Schlick, Friedrich Waismann, and Rudolf Carnap, who were members of the Circle. In the United States, he was a professor of philosophy and psychology at the University of Iowa. Biography Bergmann was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Vienna in 1928. His dissertation, directed by Walther Mayer, was titled ''Zwei Beiträge zur mehrdimensionalen Differentialgeometrie''. While studying for his doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ..., he was invited to join the Vienna Circle, a group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appearance And Reality
''Appearance and Reality'' (1893; second edition 1897) is a book by the English philosopher Francis Herbert Bradley, in which the author, influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, argues that things like qualities and relations, space and time, matter and motion, selves and bodies, and activity and change, are all contradictory and unreal appearances. Bradley goes on to describe the ultimate reality to which these appearances belong; and he calls this reality the Absolute. It is the main statement of Bradley's metaphysics and is considered his most important book. Overview and Reception ''Appearance and Reality'' is considered Bradley's most important book. According to Ronald W. Clark, its publication helped to "wrest the philosophical initiative from the Continent." In 1894, the book was reviewed by J. M. E. McTaggart in '' Revue de métaphysique et de morale'' and Josiah Royce in ''The Philosophical Review''. The book was an early influence on Bertrand Russell, encouragi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ad Infinitum
''Ad infinitum'' is a Latin phrase meaning "to infinity" or "forevermore". Description In context, it usually means "continue forever, without limit" and this can be used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating ''repeating'' process, or a set of instructions to be repeated "forever," among other uses. It may also be used in a manner similar to the Latin phrase '' et cetera'' to denote written words or a concept that continues for a lengthy period beyond what is shown. Examples include: * "The sequence 1, 2, 3, ... continues ''ad infinitum''." * "The perimeter of a fractal may be iteratively drawn ''ad infinitum''." The 17th-century writer Jonathan Swift incorporated the idea of self-similarity in the following lines from his satirical poem ''On Poetry: a Rhapsody'' (1733): The vermin only teaze and pinch Their foes superior by an inch. So, naturalists observe, a flea Has smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite 'em, And so proceed ''a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Of Affairs (philosophy)
In philosophy, a state of affairs (), also known as a situation, is a way the actual world must be in order to make some given ''proposition'' about the actual world true; in other words, a state of affairs is a ''truth-maker'', whereas a proposition is a ''truth-bearer''. Whereas states of affairs either ''obtain'' or ''fail-to-obtain'', propositions are either ''true'' or ''false''. Some philosophers understand the term "states of affairs" in a more restricted sense as a synonym for "fact". In this sense, there are no states of affairs that do not obtain. The early Ludwig Wittgenstein and David Malet Armstrong are well known for their defence of a factualism, a position according to which the world is a world of facts and not a world of things. Overview States of affairs are complex entities: they are built up from or constituted by other entities. Atomic states of affairs are constituted by one particular and one property exemplified by this particular. For example, the state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
