An Ontological Puzzle
posted by Kieran Setiya at 7:57 AM
Thursday, June 15, 2006
About Me
- Name: Kieran Setiya
- Location: Brookline, MA, United States
I teach philosophy at MIT, working mainly in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind.
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- A Genetic Fallacy?
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4 Comments:
You can't see it in those pictures, but the essential "dandelion-hood" has endured the change from state A (the first picture) to state B (the second picture).
An excellent theory! I only recently discovered its truth, having earlier believed that there were simply two species of dandelion: the yellow ones, and the kind whose seeds you can blow away.
Reminds me of a statement made by (I think) Paul Feyerabend about the claim "All swans are white", and the discovery of black swans in Western Australia.
A genuine scientist, he said, would not have said,
"The discovery of black swans shows the original claim to be false."
but rather,
"You call those birds swans?!!! They're not swans. For a start, they are the wrong colour!"
Golden lads and girls all must, / As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
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