ONT Re: Hermeneutic Equivalence Classes
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| Leibniz, "Elements of a Calculus" (cont.)
|
| 12. The Scholastics speak differently;
| for they consider, not concepts,
| but instances which are brought
| under universal concepts.
|
| So they say that metal is wider than gold,
| since it contains more species than gold, and
| if we wish to enumerate the individuals made of
| gold on the one hand and those made of metal on
| the other, the latter will be more than the former,
| which will therefore be contained in the latter as
| a part in the whole.
|
| By the use of this observation, and with suitable symbols,
| we could prove all the rules of logic by a calculus somewhat
| different from the present one -- that is, simply by a kind of
| inversion of it. However, I have preferred to consider universal
| concepts, i.e. ideas, and their combinations, as they do not depend
| on the existence of individuals.
|
| So I say that gold is greater than metal, since more is required for the
| concept of gold than for that of metal and it is a greater task to produce
| gold than to produce simply a metal of some kind or other.
|
| Our language and that of the Scholastics, then, is not contradictory here, but
| it must be distinguished carefully. However, it will be evident to anyone who
| considers the matter that I have not made any linguistic innovation which does
| not have some reason and some utility.
|
| Leibniz, 'Logical Papers', pp. 20-21.
|
| Leibniz, G.W., "Elements of a Calculus" (April, 1679),
| G.H.R. Parkinson (ed.), 'Leibniz: Logical Papers', pp. 17-24,
| Oxford University Press, London, UK, 1966. (Couturat, 49-57).
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