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    If the reference of 'gold' is fixed by causal chains to s... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Having atomic number 79 is necessarily a necessary condition for being gold, but not a sufficient condition for being gold.

    If the reference of 'gold' is fixed by causal chains to samples rather than to atomic number 79, then atomic number 79 is a discovered co-extensional truth, not a metaphysically prior necessary condition.

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    Key Terms

    Causal chains(as used in philosophy of causation)
    A sequence of events where each one is caused by the previous one, like dominoes falling in a line.
    Co-extensional(describing when two things match up but aren't necessarily connected in a meaningful way)
    Having exactly the same members or applying to exactly the same things, even if for completely different reasons.
    atomic number 79(used as an example in the statement)
    The scientific property that defines gold—it's the number of protons in a gold atom's nucleus, which is what makes gold chemically what it is.
    metaphysically prior(metaphysics)
    More fundamental or basic to how reality actually is—something that has to exist or be true before something else can be explained.
    necessary condition

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    (Counterfactual analysis of causation; Mackie 1965, 1974)
    A condition C is necessary for event E if E would not have occurred in the absence of C
    reference(Distinguished from intension in the context of possible worlds semantics)
    The actual-world referent of an expression; what the expression picks out in the actual world.

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    2 topics

    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

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    Having atomic number 79 is necessarily a necessary condition for being gold, but...

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