Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Go Figure: a Path through Fictionalism' and 'Mathematical Explanation'

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10 ideas

1. Philosophy / B. History of Ideas / 2. Ancient Thought
1597 Thales was the first western thinker to believe the arché was intelligible [Roochnik on Thales]
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 7. Fictionalism
19494 Fictionalism allows that simulated beliefs may be tracking real facts [Yablo]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 3. Individual Essences
13230 Particular essence is often captured by generality [Steiner,M]
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 5. Modality from Actuality
3013 Nothing is stronger than necessity, which rules everything [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 2. Nature of Possible Worlds / b. Worlds as fictions
19493 Governing possible worlds theory is the fiction that if something is possible, it happens in a world [Yablo]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / e. Lawlike explanations
13229 Maybe an instance of a generalisation is more explanatory than the particular case [Steiner,M]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / m. Explanation by proof
13231 Explanatory proofs rest on 'characterizing properties' of entities or structure [Steiner,M]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / c. Ultimate substances
1494 Thales said water is the first principle, perhaps from observing that food is moist [Thales, by Aristotle]
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement
1713 Thales must have thought soul causes movement, since he thought magnets have soul [Thales, by Aristotle]
29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 2. Greek Polytheism
1742 Thales said the gods know our wrong thoughts as well as our evil actions [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]