Monday, January 15, 2024

Rudolf Hirzel on Stoicism

Untersuchungen zu Cicero's philosophischen Schriften (vol 2, part 1)

De logica stoicorum (pp.61-78)

I managed to find online the volume (dedicated to Hermann Sauppe) containing Hirzel's De logica Stoicorum as well as the volumes (published by Solomon Hirzel) of the 1882 'Untersuchungen' on Cicero's philosophical writings. Vol 2, part 1 , alone is more than 500 pages and entirely dedicated to 'The development of Stoic philosophy' . I also got the Gabriel et al. paper. De logica Stoicorum is written in a florid Latin and is just a pedantic discussion about whether the Peripatetics or the Stoics were the first to use the term 'logic' ; it goes on to cite various ancient sources that mention or give a definition of the terms 'logic', logical' and 'dialectics' . There is no actual logical or philosophical content in this 17 page article and nothing that would have interested or influenced Frege. 

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Intersubjectivity and Intensionality

 Let the world consists of a collection of subjects $\{A_1, A_2,...\}$. To each subject $A_i$ we associate a unique UDIL model $M_i$.  These models can be different.  For each model $M_i$ we can take the quotient $M_i /\cong_N$ under necessary equivalence when $D$ is restricted to coarsed-grain elements. We require that all these quotient models be isomorphic. 

Constants are either primitive or defined. But does substitution of a constant for its definition preserve fine-grained equality, in particular for propositional attitudes ? What is this opaqueness vs. transparency of defined constants ? In ordinary language we do not fix definitions for many constants. But in scientific or sophisticated language we do. The 'paradox of analysis' is an expression of cognitive-linguistic dis-coordination. But is has to do with a larger problem, that of hyper-fine-grainedness in definitions which was already pointed out by Aristotle in the Topics.

Another argument for hyper-fined-grainedness involves arithmetic or algebraic calculations.

Hume, the most misunderstood philosopher

We grant that the Treatise may not be a entirely consistent work and that its precise aim may still be quite unclear.  But this does not era...