Greg Detre
22/2/01
Blackwell(??) � causality on counterfactual
Fodor � Concepts
Berkeley is saying/assuming that concepts are images, can't be anything else
how express prepositions imagistically???
Locke doesn't say what a concept is, if not imagistic
it�s the result of comparison + abstraction, that is non-imagistic???
can't express a concept in terms of anything else � it�s a means of communicating something
concepts as ineffable???
Berkeley: on what basis is the particular triangle annexed to all other triangles � resemblance as the criteria
triangularity � appealing to a concept (begging the question) about a triangle similar to a square or another triangle
�magical faculty�
language = coherentist
language defines our concepts
Wittgenstein: concepts are rules
a way of grouping things, that determines future applications (Kant)
(cf causation)
goes beyond what�s given
vs truth condition???
problems with (following) rules in general
Berkeley�s critique is of concept-imagism
his supplied concept-imagism doesn't work
Wittgenstein: meaning of concept = nothing more than common use
Goodman paradox � New Riddle of Induction
grue as new colour concept
green < t, ≥ blue
bleen: blue then green
Hume raises the problem of induction from past � future
regularity, how know which regularities to predict
Ockham�s razor � I�ll wait till I get to time t before worrying about different regularities
Skyrms � intelligence tests � there�s always a more complex regularity
can't define which is the simplest one
encapsulate in minimum(???) information space
why are some concepts harder than others???
philosophy is difficult because of rigour
difficult question � begs the question
difference in rigour between history of art and philosophy
continental philosophy
assimilating philosophy as a branch/part of literature � French(???) + US contemporary theory � Derrida
Hume is clearly about imagistic ideas
2 intensions (image + concept) � extension, abstract ideas
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why can't Locke do the work???
Berkeley is psychologically more real
Wittgenstein + Kant are mostly compatible with Locke