Timothy Williamson Vagueness 1996

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1、VaguenessIfyoukeepremovingsinglegrainsofsandfromaheap,whenisitnolongeraheap?Thisquestion,andmanyotherslikeit,soonleadustotheproblemofvagueness.TimothyWilliamsontracesthehistoryoftheproblemfromdiscussionsoftheheapparadoxinancientGreecetomodernformalapproaches,suc

2、hasfuzzylogic.Hediscussestheviewthatclassicallogicandformalsemanticsdonotapplytovaguelanguagesandshowsthatnoneofthealternativeapproachescangiveasatisfyingaccountofvaguenesswithoutfallingbackonclassicallogic.Againstthishistoricalandcriticalbackground,Williamsonth

3、endevelopshisownepistemicistposition.Vagueness,heargues,isanepistemicphenomenon,akindofignorance:therereallyisaspecificgrainofsandwhoseremovalturnstheheapintoanon-heap,butwecannotknowwhichoneitis.Williamson’sargumenthasramificationsfarbeyondthestudyofvagueness.I

4、treassertsthevalidityofclassicallogicandsemantics;moregenerally,itmakesthethoroughlyrealistpointthateventhetruthabouttheboundariesofourconceptscanbebeyondourcapacitytoknowit.Theapproachthroughoutkeepstechnicalitiestoaminimum;thisispartlytocountertheillusion,enco

5、uragedbytheemphasisonformalsystems,thatvaguenesscanbestudiedinaprecisemetalanguage.Forthetechnicallyminded,anappendixshowshowtheepistemicviewcanbeformalisedwithintheframeworkofepistemiclogic.TimothyWilliamsonisProfessorofLogicandMetaphysicsattheUniversityofEdinb

6、urgh.HeistheauthorofIdentityandDiscrimination.TheProblemsofPhilosophyFoundingeditor:TedHonderichEditors:TimCraneandJonathanWolff,UniversityCollegeLondonThisseriesaddressesthecentralproblemsofphilosophy.Eachbookgivesafreshaccountofaparticularphilosophicalthemebyo

7、fferingtwoperspectivesonthesubject:thehistoricalcontextandtheauthor’sowndistinctiveandoriginalcontribution.Thebooksarewrittentobeaccessibletostudentsofphilosophyandrelateddisciplines,whiletakingthedebatetoanewlevel.DEMOCRACY*MIND–BODYIDENTITYRossHarrisonTHEORIES

8、*CynthiaMacdonaldTHEEXISTENCEOFTHEWORLD*THENATUREOFART*ReinhardtGrossmanA.L.CotheyNAMINGANDREFERENCEPERSONALIDENTITYR.J.NelsonHaroldW.NoonanEXPLAININGEXPLANATION*POLI