Re: SUO: Metaphysical choices - position. mereology and constituti on
Re metaphysical choices and the problems of axiomatizing, e.g.,
'teleportation' vs. 'transportation', from my most recent posting:
"The concept of "open texture" was introduced by Friedrich Waismann as part
of his effort to give greater nuance to the idea that all of our empirical
ideas must be strictly verifiable in order for them to make sense. According
to Waismann, open texture is not the same as vagueness, but rather the
possibility of vagueness. In other words, the words we use to express our
ideas have enough potential meaning and variability that we cannot be
completely sure that we will always be able to verify them in the way we
might like. Waismann wrote:
'Take any material object statement. The terms which occur in it are
nonexhaustive; that means that we cannot foresee completely all possible
conditions in which they are used... and that means that we cannot foresee
completely all the possible circumstances in which the statement is true or
in which it is false. ' "
Source:
<http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_opentexture.htm>
Consider that the judge in the S.F. dog-mauling case just reversed himself,
for instance, based on his coming to a new interpretation of his own case,
probably by rethinking the applicable concepts. The opinion of lawyers who
comment on the case seems to be that the case is unusual, in how well it
fits (or, rather, doesn't fit) the customary legal concepts.
Hence, if ordinary language is open-textured (and it surely appears to be
something very like this), then the task of adequately axiomatizing any
complex scientific phenomenon using ordinary language concepts in a rigid
SUO is hopeless. We can never confidently predict all the new phenomena
which will arise, and how ordinary language concepts, which are in constant
flux, will be used to deal with them. But a SUO out to be in some way
completable, if not complete. Hence, it is desirable that axiomatized
theories should be able to co-exist peacefully 'in' a flexible SUO, in some
sense.
Jay