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    Both the existence monist and existence nihilist must est... — Carmelics
    Home/Modality & Possibility
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    Both the existence monist and existence nihilist must establish that the premises of the exclusion argument (or any alternative they provide) have sufficient plausibility to override considerations from intuition and perception.

    Modality & PossibilityTruth & Knowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Intuition and perception seem to tilt strongly toward existence pluralism.
      ?

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    • 2.To defeat existence pluralism, the monist or nihilist must offer argumentative considerations strong enough to override intuition and perception.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Intuitions favoring pluralism may themselves be theoretically contaminated by folk ontology rather than tracking mind-independent reality.
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    • 2.Quine and Sellars demonstrate that the 'manifest image' of common sense lacks evidential priority over systematic metaphysical inquiry.
      ?

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    • 3.If intuitions are theory-laden artifacts, they cannot serve as a neutral baseline that monist arguments must 'override'.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The exclusion argument operates at the level of fundamental ontology, which Parfit and Sider argue is epistemically insulated from ordinary perceptual evidence.
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    • 2.Perceptual experience underdetermines ontological structure, as the same perceptual data is compatible with both monist and pluralist interpretations of what exists.
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    Topics

    Modality & PossibilityTruth & Knowledge

    Key Terms

    Exclusion argument(Philosophy of mind and social ontology; attributed to Kim 2005)
    The argument that supervenient properties are epiphenomenal because all the causal work is done by the base-level properties upon which they supervene.
    existence monist(as a position in metaphysics)
    A philosopher who believes that only one thing truly exists—everything else is just different forms or appearances of that one thing.
    existence nihilist(as a position in metaphysics)
    A philosopher who believes that nothing truly exists, or that existence itself is an illusion or meaningless concept.
    intuition(Kant, Prolegomena 4:286)
    In Kant's usage, immediate sensory or spatial awareness that is not reducible to conceptual thought; the mode by which the distinction between right and left is apprehended.
    perception(Hume's theory of ideas)
    Any mental activity that brings something before the mind; the basic unit of mental life in Hume's theory of ideas.
    plausibility(Qualification of the conclusion of an analogical argument)
    Interpreted liberally as 'with some degree of support'; a judgment made after a claim has been formulated but prior to rigorous testing or proof.
    premises(as used in logic and philosophical arguments)
    Starting statements or assumptions that are used to support a conclusion—like the opening claims in an argument that lead to a final point.

    Notable Defenders

    Parmenides of EleaancientOn Nature (Way of Truth), fragment 8, c. 475 BCE
    Gideon RosencontemporaryRosen 2006: 35
    Jonathan SchaffercontemporarySchaffer 2010b
    Theodore SidercontemporarySider (2007b: §4)

    Connections

    1 topic

    Perception2 linked

    Related

    If intuitions are theory-laden artifacts, they cannot serve as a neutral baselin...Intuition and perception seem to tilt strongly toward existence pluralism.Intuitions favoring pluralism may themselves be theoretically contaminated by fo...Perceptual experience underdetermines ontological structure, as the same percept...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: monism
    View source passageHide passage
    To summarize the dialectic as presented so far, the existence monist must defend both the exclusion argument and the “properties need objects” argument. The existence nihilist must defend both the exclusion argument and the possibility of properties without objects. And both the existence monist and nihilist must establish that the premises of the exclusion argument—or any alternative argument they would provide—have sufficient plausibility to override the considerations from intuition and from
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Toraldo di FranciacontemporaryToraldo di Francia 1998: 28
    William of Ockhammedieval
    Bertrand RussellmodernRussell 1918 [1985]: 48
    David HumemodernHume 1748: 54
    +3 moreShow less
    Quine and Sellars demonstrate that the 'manifest image' of common sense lacks ev...The exclusion argument operates at the level of fundamental ontology, which Parf...To defeat existence pluralism, the monist or nihilist must offer argumentative c...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit