Re: [quickphilosophy] Re: Fodor on Concepts IV: Circularity
- From: wittrsl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: quickphilosophy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:27:05 +0100
Well, Wikipedia thinks they are so defined:
Mammals (formally Mammalia) are a class of vertebrate, air-breathing
animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary
glands while both males and females are characterized by hair and/or
fur, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in
the brain. Some mammals have sweat glands, but most do not.
Ron Allen wrote:
>
>
> Hi Neil & Martin:
>
> Well, here I am advocating analyticity, and the statement "all mammals
> are vertebrates" struck me not as analytic, but rather synthetic, albeit
> universally true on this planet. Maybe mammals are defined within
> zoology as vertebrates whose female individuals possess mammary glands;
> in that case, I agree. But, if the definition of mammal is an animal
> with mammary glands and vertebrates have a spine, then, well, it could
> be that someone will turn up a spineless animal, like an abalone, that
> nurses its young.
>
> Sometimes informal or prescientific terminology gets converted for use
> through formal definition. Water could be the stuff that Thales thought
> it was, but now, it's two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms in a molecule.
>
> Thanks,
> --Ron
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