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    Lewis's dominant-kinds solution holds that among the many... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→We must either deny that the many Dalmatian-parts are Dalmatians, or deny that the Dalmatians are many

    Lewis's dominant-kinds solution holds that among the many candidates, only the one best satisfying the dominant sortal 'Dalmatian' determinately instantiates the kind.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Natural language predicates like 'Dalmatian' have determinate application conditions, requiring some principled criterion for sorting candidates.
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    • 2.Among competing candidates, the one maximally satisfying the dominant sortal's criteria best explains our determinacy intuitions about kind membership.
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    • 3.Without Lewis's solution, vagueness infects metaphysics itself, making it indeterminate which entities exist—an unacceptable result.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The 'dominant sortal' itself is vague and context-sensitive, so deferring to it merely relocates rather than solves the determinacy problem.
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    • 2.Multiple candidates can equally well satisfy a sortal's criteria; superiority is a matter of degree, not a determinate threshold Lewis's view requires.
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    • 3.Metaphysical determinacy shouldn't hinge on which linguistic conventions we adopt; the solution seems to conflate semantics with metaphysics.
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    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPersonal Identity1 linked

    Related

    Among competing candidates, the one maximally satisfying the dominant sortal's c...Metaphysical determinacy shouldn't hinge on which linguistic conventions we adop...Multiple candidates can equally well satisfy a sortal's criteria; superiority is...Natural language predicates like 'Dalmatian' have determinate application condit...
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    The 'dominant sortal' itself is vague and context-sensitive, so deferring to it ...We must either deny that the many Dalmatian-parts are Dalmatians, or deny that t...Without Lewis's solution, vagueness infects metaphysics itself, making it indete...

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