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Philosophical Concepts

John Wyclif’s Political Philosophy

1. Wyclif's Later Works Government and the relation of divine justice to human law, both secular and ecclesiastical, figure as occasional themes throughout the treatises of the Summa de Ente. After receiving his doctorate in theology in 1373, his attention began to focus more completely on these topics, and his …

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Philosophical Concepts

Voting Methods

1. The Problem: Who Should be Elected? Suppose that there is a group of 21 voters who need to make a decision about which of four candidates should be elected. Let the names of the candidates be \(A\), \(B\), \(C\) and \(D\). Your job, as a social planner, is to …

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Philosophical Concepts

Value Pluralism

1. Some Preliminary Clarifications 1.1 Foundational and Non-foundational Pluralism It is important to clarify the levels at which a moral theory might be pluralistic. Let us distinguish between two levels of pluralism: foundational and non-foundational. Foundational pluralism is the view that there are plural moral values at the most basic …

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Philosophical Concepts

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Value

1. What Has Intrinsic Value? The question “What is intrinsic value?” is more fundamental than the question “What has intrinsic value?,” but historically these have been treated in reverse order. For a long time, philosophers appear to have thought that the notion of intrinsic value is itself sufficiently clear to …

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Philosophical Concepts

The History of Utilitarianism

1. Precursors to the Classical Approach Though the first systematic account of utilitarianism was developed by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the core insight motivating the theory occurred much earlier. That insight is that morally appropriate behavior will not harm others, but instead increase happiness or ‘utility.’ What is distinctive about utilitarianism …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Medieval Problem of Universals

1. Introduction The inherent problems with Plato’s original theory were recognized already by Plato himself. In his Parmenides Plato famously raised several difficulties, for which he apparently did not provide satisfactory answers. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.), with all due reverence to his teacher, consistently rejected Plato’s theory, and heavily criticized it …

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Philosophical Concepts

Church’s Type Theory

1. Syntax 1.1 Fundamental Ideas We start with an informal description of the fundamental ideas underlying the syntax of Church’s formulation of type theory. All entities have types, and if α and β are types, the type of functions from elements of type β to elements of type α is …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Revision Theory of Truth

1. Semiformal introduction Let's take a closer look at the sentence (1), given above: (1) is not true. (1) It will be useful to make the paradoxical reasoning explicit. First, suppose that (1) is not true. (2) It seems an intuitive principle concerning truth that, for any sentence p, we …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Pragmatic Theory of Truth

1. History of the Pragmatic Theory of Truth The history of the pragmatic theory of truth is tied to the history of classical American pragmatism. According to the standard account, C.S. Peirce gets credit for first proposing a pragmatic theory of truth, William James is responsible for popularizing the pragmatic …

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Philosophical Concepts

Pluralist Theories of Truth

1. Alethic pluralism about truth: a plurality of properties 1.1 Strength The pluralist’s thesis that there are many ways of being true is typically construed as being tantamount to the claim that the number of truth properties is greater than one. However, this basic interpretation, is compatible with both moderate …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Identity Theory of Truth

1. Definition and Preliminary Exposition Declarative sentences seem to take truth-values, for we say things like But sentences are apparently not the only bearers of truth-values: for we also seem to allow that what such sentences express, or mean, may be true or false, saying such things as and or …

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Philosophical Concepts

Deflationism About Truth

1. Central Themes in Deflationism 1.1 The Equivalence Schema While deflationism can be developed in different ways, it is possible to isolate some central themes emphasized by most philosophers who think of themselves as deflationists. These shared themes pertain to endorsing a kind of metaphysical parsimony and positing a “deflated” …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Correspondence Theory of Truth

1. History of the Correspondence Theory The correspondence theory is often traced back to Aristotle’s well-known definition of truth (Metaphysics 1011b25): “To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Coherence Theory of Truth

1. Versions of the Coherence Theory of Truth The coherence theory of truth has several versions. These versions differ on two major issues. Different versions of the theory give different accounts of the coherence relation. Different varieties of the theory also give various accounts of the set (or sets) of …

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Philosophical Concepts

Axiomatic Theories of Truth

1. Motivations There have been many attempts to define truth in terms of correspondence, coherence or other notions. However, it is far from clear that truth is a definable notion. In formal settings satisfying certain natural conditions, Tarski’s theorem on the undefinability of the truth predicate shows that a definition …

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Philosophical Concepts

Time Travel and Modern Physics

1. A Botched Suicide You are very depressed. You are suicidally depressed. You have a gun. But you do not quite have the courage to point the gun at yourself and kill yourself in this way. If only someone else would kill you, that would be a good thing. But …

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Philosophical Concepts

Thermodynamic Asymmetry in Time

1. Thermodynamic Time Asymmetry: A Brief Guide First developed in Sadi Carnot’s Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire 1824, the science of classical thermodynamics is intimately associated with the industrial revolution. Most of the results responsible for the science originated from the practice of engineers trying to improve steam …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Experience and Perception of Time

1. What is ‘the perception of time’? The very expression ‘the perception of time’ invites objection. Insofar as time is something different from events, we do not perceive time as such, but changes or events in time. But, arguably, we do not perceive events only, but also their temporal relations. …

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Philosophical Concepts

Epistemological Problems of Testimony

1. Reductionism and Non-Reductionism Consider this scenario: Your friend testifies to you that your favorite team won last night’s game (= p). Because you know that your friend is a highly reliable sports reporter, and because you have no reason to doubt what she says on this occasion, you believe …

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Philosophical Concepts

Tarski’s Truth Definitions

1. The 1933 programme and the semantic conception In the late 1920s Alfred Tarski embarked on a project to give rigorous definitions for notions useful in scientific methodology. In 1933 he published (in Polish) his analysis of the notion of a true sentence. This long paper undertook two tasks: first …

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Philosophical Concepts

Supervenience in Ethics

1. Theorizing Ethical Supervenience Many philosophers hope to make significant arguments about ethics using ethical supervenience as a premise. However, there are many distinct ethical supervenience theses that philosophers might be interested in. Understanding the differences between these theses can help to clarify which of them deserve our allegiance. It …

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Philosophical Concepts

Philosophy of Statistical Mechanics

1. The Aims of Statistical Mechanics (SM) Statistical Mechanics (SM) is the third pillar of modern physics, next to quantum theory and relativity theory. Its aim is to account for the macroscopic behaviour of physical systems in terms of dynamical laws governing the microscopic constituents of these systems and the …

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Philosophical Concepts

Boltzmann’s Work in Statistical Physics

1. Introduction 1.1 Popular perceptions of Boltzmann Boltzmann's work met with mixed reactions during his lifetime, and continue to do so even today. It may be worthwhile, therefore, to devote a few remarks to the perception and reception of his work. Boltzmann is often portrayed as a staunch defender of …

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Philosophical Concepts

Spinoza’s Theory of Attributes

1. Attributes in the Ethics Before discussing the theory of attributes in the Ethics, it will be helpful to keep in mind a rudimentary sketch of the general structure of Spinoza’s ontology:[2] There is only an infinite substance (1P14), that is, there are no created substances. The infinite substance consists …

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