Ideas of Gideon Rosen, by Theme

[American, fl. 2002, Professor at Princeton University.]

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1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 5. Linguistic Analysis
14092 Philosophers are often too fussy about words, dismissing perfectly useful ordinary terms
2. Reason / D. Definition / 1. Definitions
14100 Figuring in the definition of a thing doesn't make it a part of that thing
4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 4. Axioms for Sets / c. Axiom of Pairing II
18851 Pairing (with Extensionality) guarantees an infinity of sets, just from a single element
5. Theory of Logic / K. Features of Logics / 10. Monotonicity
14096 Explanations fail to be monotonic
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 1. Grounding / a. Nature of grounding
14097 Things could be true 'in virtue of' others as relations between truths, or between truths and items
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 8. Facts / a. Facts
14095 Facts are structures of worldly items, rather like sentences, individuated by their ingredients
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 4. Intrinsic Properties
14093 An 'intrinsic' property is one that depends on a thing and its parts, and not on its relations
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 2. Abstract Objects / d. Problems with abstracta
8915 How we refer to abstractions is much less clear than how we refer to other things
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 4. Impossible objects
18852 A Meinongian principle might say that there is an object for any modest class of properties
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 5. Metaphysical Necessity
18849 Metaphysical necessity is absolute and universal; metaphysical possibility is very tolerant
18850 'Metaphysical' modality is the one that makes the necessity or contingency of laws of nature interesting
18858 Sets, universals and aggregates may be metaphysically necessary in one sense, but not another
18857 Standard Metaphysical Necessity: P holds wherever the actual form of the world holds
18856 Non-Standard Metaphysical Necessity: when ¬P is incompatible with the nature of things
14094 The excellent notion of metaphysical 'necessity' cannot be defined
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 6. Logical Necessity
18848 Something may be necessary because of logic, but is that therefore a special sort of necessity?
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 3. Combinatorial possibility
18855 Combinatorial theories of possibility assume the principles of combination don't change across worlds
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 1. Sources of Necessity
14101 Are necessary truths rooted in essences, or also in basic grounding laws?
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 4. Conceivable as Possible / a. Conceivable as possible
18853 A proposition is 'correctly' conceivable if an ominiscient being could conceive it
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 2. Abstracta by Selection
8917 The Way of Abstraction used to say an abstraction is an idea that was formed by abstracting
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 5. Abstracta by Negation
8912 Nowadays abstractions are defined as non-spatial, causally inert things
8913 Chess may be abstract, but it has existed in specific space and time
8914 Sets are said to be abstract and non-spatial, but a set of books can be on a shelf
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 6. Abstracta by Conflation
8916 Conflating abstractions with either sets or universals is a big claim, needing a big defence
18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 7. Abstracta by Equivalence
8918 Functional terms can pick out abstractions by asserting an equivalence relation
8919 Abstraction by equivalence relationships might prove that a train is an abstract entity
19. Language / E. Analyticity / 1. Analytic Propositions
14099 'Bachelor' consists in or reduces to 'unmarried' male, but not the other way around
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 4. Regularities / b. Best system theory
18854 The MRL view says laws are the theorems of the simplest and strongest account of the world
27. Natural Reality / F. Chemistry / 1. Chemistry
14098 An acid is just a proton donor