Constructing the World
1st Edition
Published on 14. September 2012
521 pages
978-0-19-165493-0 (ISBN)
Description
David J. Chalmers constructs a highly ambitious and original picture of the world, from a few basic elements. He returns to Rudolf Carnap's attempt to do the same, and adopts the idea of scrutability--according to which reasoning from a limited class of basic truths yields all truths about the world--to address central themes in philosophy.
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David J. Chalmers
Constructing the World
Book
10/2012
1st Edition
Oxford University Press
€96.10
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Content
- Cover
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- How to Read This Book
- 1 Scrutability and the Aufbau
- 1 Primitive concepts
- 2 Objections to the Aufbau
- 3 From definitional to a priori scrutability
- 4 From descriptions to intensions
- 5 The scrutability base
- 6 Reviving the Aufbau
- First Excursus: Scrutability and Knowability
- Second Excursus: The Inscrutability of Reference and the Scrutability of Truth
- 2 Varieties of Scrutability
- 1 Scrutability theses
- 2 Sentences or propositions?
- 3 Inferential scrutability
- 4 Conditional scrutability
- 5 A priori scrutability
- 6 Generalized scrutability
- 7 Idealization
- 8 Objections from idealization
- Third Excursus: Sentential and Propositional Scrutability
- Fourth Excursus: Warrants and Support Structures
- Fifth Excursus: Insulated Idealization and the Problem of elf-Doubt
- 3 Adventures with a Cosmoscope
- 1 A scrutability base
- 2 The Cosmoscope argument
- 3 The argument from elimination
- 4 The argument from knowability
- 5 Inferential scrutability with a Cosmoscope
- 6 Conditional scrutability
- 7 The objection from recognitional capacities
- 8 The objection from counterfactuals
- Sixth Excursus: Totality Truths and Indexical Truths
- 4 The Case for A Priori Scrutability
- 1 From Conditional to A Priori Scrutability
- 2 The argument from suspension of belief
- 3 The argument from frontloading
- 4 Causal roles, mediating roles, and justifying roles
- 5 Generalized A Priori Scrutability
- 6 Objections from self-knowledge
- 7 Objections from theories of concepts and reference
- 8 Objections from acquaintance and from nonpropositional evidence
- 9 The objection from empirical inference
- Seventh Excursus: Varieties of Apriority
- Eighth Excursus: Recent Challenges to the A Priori
- 5 Revisability and Conceptual Change
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The arguments of 'Two Dogmas'
- 3 Carnap on intensions
- 4 A Carnapian response
- 5 Refining Carnap's account
- 6 A Bayesian analysis of holding-true
- 7 A Bayesian analysis of revisability
- 8 Quinean objections
- 9 Conclusion
- Ninth Excursus: Scrutability and Conceptual Dynamics
- Tenth Excursus: Constructing Epistemic Space
- Eleventh Excursus: Constructing Fregean Senses
- 6 Hard Cases
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Mathematical truths
- 3 Normative and evaluative truths
- 4 Ontological truths
- 5 Other philosophical truths
- 6 Modal truths
- 7 Intentional truths
- 8 Social truths
- 9 Deferential terms
- 10 Names
- 11 Metalinguistic truths
- 12 Indexicals and demonstratives
- 13 Vagueness
- 14 Secondary qualities
- 15 Macrophysical truths
- 16 Counterfactual truths
- 17 Conclusion
- Twelfth Excursus: Scrutability and the Unity of Science
- 7 Minimizing the Base
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Heuristics
- 3 Microphysical expressions
- 4 Color, other secondary qualities, and mass
- 5 Spatiotemporal expressions
- 6 Causal and nomic expressions
- 7 Phenomenal expressions
- 8 Compression using laws
- 9 Quiddities
- 10 Other expressions
- 11 Packages
- Thirteenth Excursus: From the Aufbau to the Canberra Plan
- Fourteenth Excursus: Epistemic Rigidity and Super-Rigidity
- 8 The Structure of the World
- 1 Principled scrutability bases
- 2 Definitional Scrutability (and conceptual analysis)
- 3 Analytic and Primitive Scrutability (and primitive concepts)
- 4 Narrow Scrutability (and narrow content)
- 5 Acquaintance Scrutability (and Russellian acquaintance)
- 6 Fundamental Scrutability (and the mind-body problem)
- 7 Structural Scrutability (and structural realism)
- 8 Generalized Scrutability (and Fregean content)
- Summation: Whither the Aufbau?
- Fifteenth Excursus: The Structuralist Response to Skepticism
- Sixteenth Excursus: Scrutability, Supervenience, and Grounding
- Seventeenth Excursus: Explaining Scrutability
- Glossary
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- V
- W
- Bibliography
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
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- Y
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