[Wittrs] Re: Nominalism / Sean
- From: Sean Wilson <whoooo26505@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:55:29 -0700 (PDT)
Josh:
So am I to understand that "computational nominalism" is your theory in the
making? And that it is a book you are working on (did you say with others)? And
that it is not ready yet to provide a helpful example of what is one versus
what isn't one, in terms of how a person would behave in the world? (The cat on
the mat is no different from the Cat in the Hat -- there is no real problem for
philosophy or science here).
For example, if you say to an "idealist," what does it mean? You get some sort
of talk about the tree being in your mind. And if you talk to a realist, you
get some attempt to "prove" that "the tree is there' when the grammar of such
assertions never have anything to do with proving anything, anyway. And so what
you get out of this is an allegiance game for philosophy students. Political
science students do the same thing with politics. Really, these things are
nothing but social-club ideologies.
Whenever you can figure it out, tell me what a "computational nominalist" says
about the tree.
One more thing regarding your counter-example of not believing in feet. If one
doesn't believe in feet, it is, in fact, the same exact sort of thing as not
believing in "computational nominalism" as I understand the matter. Because in
both cases, one has to account for what one does in the experience of life, no
matter what one calls it. And if I meet a human not suffering any deformity or
illness who says to me "I don't believe in feet" -- as if to deny their
existence -- I would treat it precisely the same as one who said, "the tree
isn't there" or "I'm a computational nominalist." All of these replies I would
only meet with, "I root for the Steelers."
If, however, you are chasing a scientific theory, then the matter would be
different. You wouldn't have an example to give about the tree; you would have
some sort of brain-process argument that exists as a theory in some research
program that has such-and-such data to support the journalism. I don't have any
issue with that.
Gotta go -- Steelers are comiong on! ... aaahhh
Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq.
Assistant Professor
Wright State University
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