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Fictionalism
Fictionalism is the view in philosophy according to which statements that appear to be descriptions of the world should not be construed as such, but should instead be understood as cases of "make believe", of pretending to treat something as literally true (a "useful fiction"). Concept Fictionalism consists in at least the following three theses: # Claims made within the domain of discourse are taken to be truth-apt; that is, true or false # The domain of discourse is to be interpreted at face value—not reduced to meaning something else # The aim of discourse in any given domain is not truth, but some other virtue(s) (e.g., simplicity, explanatory scope). Two important strands of fictionalism are modal fictionalism developed by Gideon Rosen, which states that possible worlds, regardless of whether they exist or not, may be a part of a useful discourse, and mathematical fictionalism advocated by Hartry Field. Modal fictionalism is recognized as further refinement to the ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modal Fictionalism
Modal fictionalism is a term used in philosophy, and more specifically in the metaphysics of modality, to describe the position that holds that modality can be analysed in terms of a fiction about possible worlds. The theory comes in two versions: Strong and Timid. Both positions were first exposed by Gideon Rosen starting from 1990. Strong fictionalism about possible worlds According to strong fictionalism about possible worlds (another name for strong modal fictionalism), the following bi-conditionals are necessary and specify the truth-conditions for certain cases of modal claims: # It is possible that P iff the translation of P into the language of a fiction F (containing possible worlds) holds according to F. # It is necessary that P iff the translation of P into the language of a fiction F (containing possible worlds) always holds. Recent supporters of this view added further specifications of these bi-conditionals to counter certain objections. In the case of claims of po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Color
The philosophy of color is a subset of the philosophy of perception that is concerned with the nature of the perceptual experience of color. Any explicit account of color perception requires a commitment to one of a variety of ontological or metaphysical views, distinguishing namely between externalism/ internalism, which relate respectively to color realism, the view that colors are physical properties that objects possess, and color fictionalism, the view that colors possess no such physical properties. History Philosophical concerns about the nature of color can be traced back at least as far as Anaxagoras (5th century BCE), who favoured color realism in his sophism: "Snow is frozen water. But water is dark in color. Therefore, snow is dark in color." Anaxagoras claimed that our perception deviated from the truth "...owing to the feebleness f the senses" Later, Democritus (circa 400 BCE) would say, "By convention sweet, by convention bitter, by convention hot, by conven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Color Fictionalism
The philosophy of color is a subset of the philosophy of perception that is concerned with the nature of the perceptual experience of color. Any explicit account of color perception requires a commitment to one of a variety of ontological or metaphysical views, distinguishing namely between externalism/internalism, which relate respectively to color realism, the view that colors are physical properties that objects possess, and color fictionalism, the view that colors possess no such physical properties. History Philosophical concerns about the nature of color can be traced back at least as far as Anaxagoras (5th century BCE), who favoured color realism in his sophism: "Snow is frozen water. But water is dark in color. Therefore, snow is dark in color." Anaxagoras claimed that our perception deviated from the truth "...owing to the feebleness f the senses" Later, Democritus (circa 400 BCE) would say, "By convention sweet, by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Mathematics
The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in people's lives. The logical and structural nature of mathematics itself makes this study both broad and unique among its philosophical counterparts. The philosophy of mathematics has two major themes: mathematical realism and mathematical anti-realism. History The origin of mathematics is subject to arguments and disagreements. Whether the birth of mathematics was a random happening or induced by necessity during the development of other subjects, like physics, is still a matter of prolific debates. Many thinkers have contributed their ideas concerning the nature of mathematics. Today, some philosophers of mathematics aim to give accounts of this form of inquiry and its products as they stand, while others emphasize a role for themselves th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Vaihinger
Hans Vaihinger (; September 25, 1852 – December 18, 1933) was a German philosopher, best known as a Kant scholar and for his ''Die Philosophie des Als Ob'' ('' The Philosophy of 'As if'''), published in 1911 although its statement of basic principles had been written more than thirty years earlier. Biography Vaihinger was born in Nehren, Württemberg, Germany, near Tübingen, and raised in what he described as a "very religious atmosphere". He was educated at the University of Tübingen (the Tübinger Stift), Leipzig University, and the University of Berlin. He then became a tutor and later a philosophy professor at the University of Strasbourg, before moving in 1884 to the University of Halle, where from 1892 he was a full professor. Philosophical work ''Philosophy of As If'' In ''Die Philosophie des Als Ob'', Vaihinger argued that human beings can never really know the underlying reality of the world, and that as a result people construct systems of thought and then a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Mathematics
The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in people's lives. The logical and structural nature of mathematics itself makes this study both broad and unique among its philosophical counterparts. The philosophy of mathematics has two major themes: mathematical realism and mathematical anti-realism. History The origin of mathematics is subject to arguments and disagreements. Whether the birth of mathematics was a random happening or induced by necessity during the development of other subjects, like physics, is still a matter of prolific debates. Many thinkers have contributed their ideas concerning the nature of mathematics. Today, some philosophers of mathematics aim to give accounts of this form of inquiry and its products as they stand, while others emphasize a role for themselves th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gideon Rosen
Gideon Rosen (born 1962) is an American philosopher. He is a Stuart Professor of Philosophy and the chair of the philosophy department at Princeton University, where he specializes in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, and ethics. Education and career Rosen graduated from Columbia University in 1984 and obtained his Ph.D. at Princeton in 1992, under the supervision of Paul Benacerraf. He taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for several years before joining the Princeton faculty in 1993. He has served as chair of Princeton's Council of the Humanities and director of the Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows. Philosophical work In 1990 Rosen introduced modal fictionalism, a popular position on the ontological status of possible worlds. He is the co-author of ''A Subject with No Object'' (Oxford University Press, 1997), a contribution to the philosophy of mathematics written with Princeton colleague John P. Burgess. His recent work in metaphysics is about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kendall Walton
Kendall Lewis Walton (born 1939) is an American philosopher, the Emeritus Charles Stevenson Collegiate Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. His work mainly deals with theoretical questions about the arts and issues of philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and philosophy of language. His book ''Mimesis as Make Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts'' develops a theory of make-believe and uses it to understand the nature and varieties of representation in the arts. He has also developed an account of photography as transparent, defending the idea that we see through photographs, much as we see through telescopes or mirrors, and written extensively on pictorial representation, fiction and the emotions, the ontological status of fictional entities, the aesthetics of music, metaphor, and aesthetic value. Education and career Walton studied as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, originally pursuing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quietism (philosophy)
Quietism in philosophy sees the role of philosophy as broadly therapeutic or remedial. Quietist philosophers believe that philosophy has no positive thesis to contribute, but rather that its value is in defusing confusions in the linguistic and conceptual frameworks of other subjects, including non-quietist philosophy. For quietists, advancing knowledge or settling debates (particularly those between realists and non-realists) is not the job of philosophy, rather philosophy should liberate the mind by diagnosing confusing concepts. Status within philosophy Crispin Wright said that "Quietism is the view that significant metaphysical debate is impossible." It has been described as "the view or stance that entails avoidance of substantive philosophical theorizing and is usually associated with certain forms of skepticism, pragmatism, and minimalism about truth. More particularly, it is opposed to putting forth positive theses and developing constructive arguments." Quietism by it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of mind, mind, and Philosophy of language, language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some sources claim the term was coined by Pythagoras ( BCE), although this theory is disputed by some. Philosophical methodology, Philosophical methods include Socratic questioning, questioning, Socratic method, critical discussion, dialectic, rational argument, and systematic presentation. in . Historically, ''philosophy'' encompassed all bodies of knowledge and a practitioner was known as a ''philosopher''."The English word "philosophy" is first attested to , meaning "knowledge, body of knowledge." "natural philosophy," which began as a discipline in ancient India and Ancient Greece, encompasses astronomy, medicine, and physics. For example, Isaac Newton, Newton's 1687 ''Phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, ''Macbeth'' most clearly reflects his relationship with King James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Joyce (philosopher)
Richard Joyce (born 1966) is a British-Australian-New Zealand philosopher, known for his contributions to the fields of meta-ethics and moral psychology. He is Professor of Philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington. Background and education Joyce was born in England and raised in New Zealand (and is an Australian citizen). After an initial education at the University of Auckland, he received his PhD from Princeton University in 1998 (studying under Gilbert Harman). After Princeton, he was a lecturer at the University of Sheffield for a few years, and then held research fellowships at the Australian National University and the University of Sydney. He took up his professorship at Victoria University of Wellington in 2010. Ideas ;Moral error theory To hold an error theory about morality is to endorse a kind of radical moral skepticism—a skepticism analogous to atheism in the religious domain. The atheist thinks that religious utterances, such as "God loves you," really a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
