Category: Circularity Arguments
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Circular Definitions, Arguments, and Explanations
In the course of our discursive operations we often encounter circularity. Clarity will be served if we distinguish different types of circularity. I count three types. We could label them definitional, argumentative, and explanatory. A. The life of the mind often includes the framing of definitions. Now one constraint on a good definition is that…
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Stanislav Sousedik and the Circularity Objection to the Thin Theory
Daniel Novotny writes, I have discovered (something like) the circularity objection in Sousedik's translation of Frege's "Dialog with Punjer on Existence" into Czech. It's about two pages; here are some snippets (very rough translation): First we might find difficulties with the assertion that existence is a property of the second order, i.e. the property of "falling…
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Original and Derived Intentionality, Circles, and Regresses
1. Original/Derived Intentionality. All will agree that there is some sort of distinction to be made here. A map is not about a chunk of terrain just in virtue of the map's physical and geometrical properties. Consider the contour lines on a topographical map. The closer together, the steeper the terrain. But that closer together…