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    The fact that a concept picks out a single individual doe... — Carmelics
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    Home/Philosophy of Language
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    The fact that a concept picks out a single individual does not entail that the concept is not general or mediate.

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge
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    2 reasons against

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.The concept <God> picks out a single individual, yet it is a general, mediate representation.
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    • 2.God is represented through other concepts, such as <substance>, making <God> a mediate representation.
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    • 3.<God> is general because it places God within a broader class, namely the class of substances.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.A representation is singular if its reference is fixed by the object itself rather than by satisfaction of descriptive conditions, regardless of how many objects satisfy those conditions.
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    • 2.The concept <God> in rational theology functions as a singular term whose reference is stipulated rather than descriptively determined, making generality a grammatical facade over a logically singular representation.
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    • 3.Kant's own distinction between determinable and fully determined concepts in the Transcendental Ideal suggests <God> is the omnitudo realitatis—a concept exhausted by one object by necessity, which undermines its classification as genuinely general.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.John Stuart Mill's distinction between connotation and denotation entails that a concept with null or singleton denotation but substantive connotation remains general only if its connotation could in principle apply to multiple objects.
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    • 2.If the uniqueness of an individual is necessary rather than contingent—as with God or the number 1—the concept's extension cannot be expanded even hypothetically, dissolving the generality that Kant's account requires.
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    • 3.Frege's context principle notwithstanding, a concept that admits no coherent plurality of instances fails the criterion for genuine conceptual generality and instead functions as a disguised proper name.
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    Topics

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge

    Connections

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    Divine Attributes3 linked

    Related

    <God> is general because it places God within a broader class, namely the class ...A concept can be general by placing its object within a class, even if only one ...A representation is singular if its reference is fixed by the object itself rath...Frege's context principle notwithstanding, a concept that admits no coherent plu...
    +6 moreShow less
    God is represented through other concepts, such as <substance>, making <God> a m...If the uniqueness of an individual is necessary rather than contingent—as with G...John Stuart Mill's distinction between connotation and denotation entails that a...Kant's own distinction between determinable and fully determined concepts in the...The concept <God> in rational theology functions as a singular term whose refere...The concept <God> picks out a single individual, yet it is a general, mediate re...

    Similar

    The concept <God> picks out a single individual yet remains a general,...91%The concept <God> picks out a single individual, yet it is a general, ...90%Kant does not deny that <God> is a concept; therefore, picking out a s...86%For Hegel, a concept is not a general representation in the mind of a ...83%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: kant-spacetime
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    Kant may have other reasons for thinking that our representation of space is not a concept. If we recall Kant’s view that concepts are general, mediate representations, and his view of how these facts are reflected in the conceptual trees discussed above, then there is indeed at least a prima facie puzzle as to how we could have a concept, in Kant’s sense, of space. Consider a contrast class. Even if we think that &lt;God&gt; represents only a single entity, that fact does not undermine Kant’s v
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit