Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Weisberg/Needham/Hendry, John Etchemendy and Dorion Sagan

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16 ideas

1. Philosophy / G. Scientific Philosophy / 3. Scientism
Scientists know everything about nothing, philosophers nothing about everything [Sagan,D]
3. Truth / F. Semantic Truth / 1. Tarski's Truth / c. Meta-language for truth
'Snow is white' depends on meaning; whether snow is white depends on snow [Etchemendy]
3. Truth / G. Axiomatic Truth / 1. Axiomatic Truth
We can get a substantive account of Tarski's truth by adding primitive 'true' to the object language [Etchemendy]
5. Theory of Logic / B. Logical Consequence / 1. Logical Consequence
Validity is where either the situation or the interpretation blocks true premises and false conclusion [Etchemendy, by Read]
Etchemendy says fix the situation and vary the interpretation, or fix interpretations with varying situations [Etchemendy, by Read]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / i. Explanations by mechanism
Using mechanisms as explanatory schemes began in chemistry [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
Thick mechanisms map whole reactions, and thin mechanism chart the steps [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / f. Ancient elements
Lavoisier's elements included four types of earth [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
27. Natural Reality / F. Chemistry / 1. Chemistry
Over 100,000,000 compounds have been discovered or synthesised [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
Water molecules dissociate, and form large polymers, explaining its properties [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
It is unlikely that chemistry will ever be reduced to physics [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
Quantum theory won't tell us which structure a set of atoms will form [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
For temperature to be mean kinetic energy, a state of equilibrium is also required [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
'H2O' just gives the element proportions, not the microstructure [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
27. Natural Reality / F. Chemistry / 2. Modern Elements
Isotopes (such as those of hydrogen) can vary in their rates of chemical reaction [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]
27. Natural Reality / F. Chemistry / 3. Periodic Table
Mendeleev systematised the elements, and also gave an account of their nature [Weisberg/Needham/Hendry]