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    Vagueness does not exist in the world itself. — Carmelics
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    Vagueness does not exist in the world itself.

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge
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    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Ontic vagueness requires that objects themselves have indeterminate identity conditions, but Evans (1978) demonstrated this generates contradictions via Leibniz's Law.
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    • 2.If sharp metaphysical facts determine all boundaries between properties (as structural realists like Ladyman argue), then apparent worldly vagueness is epistemic, not ontological.
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    • 3.The determinable-determinate hierarchy shows every natural property is fully determinate at the fundamental level, leaving no ontological gap for vagueness to inhabit.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Lewis's principle of 'precisification' shows that for any vague predicate, there exist multiple equally legitimate sharp extensions, all corresponding to precise worldly properties.
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    • 2.If competing precisifications each carve out determinate worldly features, then vagueness lies in our failure to select among them, not in the world's failure to be determinate.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.The only intelligible account of vagueness locates vagueness in thought and language, not in the world.
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    • 2.If vagueness is entirely a feature of thought and language, then the world contains no vagueness.
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    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge

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    Modality & Possibility1 linked

    Related

    If competing precisifications each carve out determinate worldly features, then ...If sharp metaphysical facts determine all boundaries between properties (as stru...If vagueness is entirely a feature of thought and language, then the world conta...Lewis's principle of 'precisification' shows that for any vague predicate, there...
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    Ontic vagueness requires that objects themselves have indeterminate identity con...The determinable-determinate hierarchy shows every natural property is fully det...The only intelligible account of vagueness locates vagueness in thought and lang...

    Similar

    Everything exists.85%Sense does not exist outside the proposition that expresses it.82%Under Gap, in worlds where Bergoglio does not exist, '¬Hb' (Bergoglio ...81%Therefore '¬Hb' is not true in any world, so ¬◇¬Hb holds79%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: determinate-determinables
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    Reality as maximally determinate. One objection to irreducible determinables appeals to the supposition that reality itself is maximally determinate, such that there are no irreducible determinable properties; as Armstrong maintains, “[a]ll universals must be determinate” (1978b: 117). Relatedly, many suppose that there is no “vagueness” in the world; as Lewis maintains, “[t]he only intelligible account of vagueness locates it in our thought and language” (1986: 212).[16]
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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