Papers by Martin Pleitz
Robert Brandom
Page 137. HOW TO KRIPKE BRANDOM'S NOTION OF NECESSITY Benedikt Paul Göcke, Martin Pleitz... more Page 137. HOW TO KRIPKE BRANDOM'S NOTION OF NECESSITY Benedikt Paul Göcke, Martin Pleitz and Hanno von Wulfen Abstract: In this paper we discuss Brandom's definition of necessity, which is part of the incompatibil ...
De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 2008
Page 137. HOW TO KRIPKE BRANDOM'S NOTION OF NECESSITY Benedikt Paul Göcke, Martin Pleitz... more Page 137. HOW TO KRIPKE BRANDOM'S NOTION OF NECESSITY Benedikt Paul Göcke, Martin Pleitz and Hanno von Wulfen Abstract: In this paper we discuss Brandom's definition of necessity, which is part of the incompatibil ...
De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 31, 2008
Philosophy, Apr 1, 2020
I will use paradox as a guide to metaphysical grounding, a kind of non-causal explanation that ha... more I will use paradox as a guide to metaphysical grounding, a kind of non-causal explanation that has recently shown itself to play a pivotal role in philosophical inquiry. Specifically, I will analyze the grounding structure of the Predestination paradox, the regresses of Carroll and Bradley, Russell's paradox and the Liar, Yablo's paradox, Zeno's paradoxes, and a novel omega plus one variant of Yablo's paradox, and thus find reason for the following: We should continue to characterize grounding as asymmetrical and irreflexive. We should change our understanding of the transitivity of grounding in a certain sense. We should require foundationality in a new, generalized sense, that has well-foundedness as its limit case. Meta-grounding is important. The polarity of grounding can be crucial. Thus we will learn a lot about structural properties of grounding from considering the various paradoxes. On the way, grounding will also turn out to be relevant to the diagnosis (if not the solution) of paradox. All the paradoxes under consideration will turn out to be breaches of some standard requirement on grounding, which makes uniform solutions of large groups of these paradoxes more desirable. In sum, bringing together paradox and grounding will be shown to be of considerable value to philosophy. 1
Rosemarie Rheinwald: Logik, Kausalität, Freiheit
Outstanding Contributions to Logic, 2014
We present a general theory of possible ancestry that is a case of modal ersatzism because we do ... more We present a general theory of possible ancestry that is a case of modal ersatzism because we do not take possibilities in terms of offspring as given, but construct them from objects of another kind. Our construction resembles Nuel Belnap's theory of branching space-time insofar as we also carve all possibilities from a single pre-existing structure. According to the basic theory of possible ancestry, there is a discrete partially ordered set called a structure of possibilia, any subset of which is called admissible iff it is downward closed under the ordering relation. A structure of possibilia is meant to model possible living beings standing in the relation of possible ancestry, and the admissible sets are meant to model possible scenarios. Thus the Kripkean intuition of the necessity of (ancestral) origin is incorporated at the very core of our theory. In order to obtain a more general formulation of our theory which allows numerous specifications that might be useful in concrete biological modeling, we single out two places in our framework where further requirements can be implemented: Global requirements will put further constraints on the ordering relation; local requirements will put further constraints on admissibility. To make our theory applicable in an indeterminist world, we use admissible sets to construct This postscript and the family of theories it describes grew from discussions between Niko Strobach and Martin Pleitz about earlier drafts of Strobach's paper "In Retrospect". It was written jointly but with somewhat diverging motivations, with Strobach having a special interest in the question of ontological competition and the clue it provides for a general relativity friendly variant of BST and Pleitz having a special interest in the most general form of a theory of possible ancestry and the constructions that allow to answer the question of embeddability. We are grateful to the participants of the discussion during the WIRP II workshop at GAP 8 in Konstanz in
Synthese, 2015
I will show how a metaphysical problem of Arthur Prior's can be solved by a logical tool he devel... more I will show how a metaphysical problem of Arthur Prior's can be solved by a logical tool he developed himself, but did not put to any foundational use: metric logic. The broader context is given by the key question about the metaphysics of time: Is time tenseless, i.e., is time just a structure of instants; or is time tensed, because some facts are irreducibly tensed? I take sides with Prior and the tensed theory. Like him, I therefore I have to deal with a more specific metaphysical question: How can the instants of tenseless time be reduced to tensed facts? This is the point where, on the technical level, hybrid logic and metric logic come in. For present purposes, both can be seen as species of tense logic; and both are creations of Prior. In his argument for the tensed theory of time, Prior used hybrid tense logic to reduce instants. But, as he himself pointed out, this reduction runs into deep problems, because it immediately generalizes to other categories, for example and most importantly to persons. My main aim is to show that metric logic does not run into similar difficulties: It will help the tensed theory reduce instants, but it leaves persons untouched. I will also give reasons for preferring a metric to a hybrid logic of time that are independent of the metaphysical issue of reduction, but concern temporal reasoning, natural language semantics, and the epistemic side of time-keeping.
Philosophy, 2020
I will use paradox as a guide to metaphysical grounding, a kind of non-causal explanation that ha... more I will use paradox as a guide to metaphysical grounding, a kind of non-causal explanation that has recently shown itself to play a pivotal role in philosophical inquiry. Specifically, I will analyze the grounding structure of the Predestination paradox, the regresses of Carroll and Bradley, Russell's paradox and the Liar, Yablo's paradox, Zeno's paradoxes, and a novel omega plus one variant of Yablo's paradox, and thus find reason for the following: We should continue to characterize grounding as asymmetrical and irreflexive. We should change our understanding of the transitivity of grounding in a certain sense. We should require foundationality in a new, generalized sense, that has well-foundedness as its limit case. Meta-grounding is important. The polarity of grounding can be crucial. Thus we will learn a lot about structural properties of grounding from considering the various paradoxes. On the way, grounding will also turn out to be relevant to the diagnosis (if not the solution) of paradox. All the paradoxes under consideration will turn out to be breaches of some standard requirement on grounding, which makes uniform solutions of large groups of these paradoxes more desirable. In sum, bringing together paradox and grounding will be shown to be of considerable value to philosophy.
Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Medientheorie und analytischer Philosophie 1 Obwohl das Verhältni... more Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Medientheorie und analytischer Philosophie 1 Obwohl das Verhältnis von Medientheorie und analytischer Philosophie gegenwärtig schwierig ist, ist eine Annäherung wünschenswert (1). Ich schlage eine Analyse des Begriffs "medientheoretisch" vor (2), nach der sich auch einige Theoriestücke der analytischen Philosophie als medientheoretisch einstufen lassen (3). Daraufhin versuche ich die weitgehende Medienblindheit der analytischen Philosophie zu erklären und weise auf einige Mittel zu ihrer Überwindung hin (4). Die Skizze einer Theorie der Laut-und Schriftsprache soll plausibel machen, dass es erfolgversprechend ist, medientheoretische analytische Philosophie zu betreiben (5). Ich sehe meine Thesen als Vorarbeit zum Projekt einer analytischen Medientheorie (6).
This is a penultimate version of a paper published in:
Mras, Gabriele M. / Weingartner, Paul / R... more This is a penultimate version of a paper published in:
Mras, Gabriele M. / Weingartner, Paul / Ritter, Bernhard (Hg.) 2018: Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics. Abstracts. 41st International Wittgenstein Symposium. August 5. – 11., 2018, Kirchberg am Wechsel: Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, 193-195.
In this note, I show how to construct Liar-like and Curry-like paradoxes in a framework Graham Pr... more In this note, I show how to construct Liar-like and Curry-like paradoxes in a framework Graham Priest has been considering recently, in which he tries to solve the paradoxes by giving up the rule of modus ponens (detachement) instead of the rules of ex falso and contraction. The Curry-like paradox presents a serious challenge to the detachment-free framework because it threatens to trivialize the system, just as Currys original paradox does for the more standard paraconsistent approach to the paradoxes.
Robert Brandom: anal, Jan 1, 2008
To show that the set theoretic and semantic paradoxes have the same structure, Graham Priest has ... more To show that the set theoretic and semantic paradoxes have the same structure, Graham Priest has formulated his Inclosure Schema and shown that it characterizes the paradoxes of both groups. I will argue that the failure of the Inclosure Schema to also characterize Curry's paradox is more important than is usually realized. I will show how this failure can be addressed in a way that harmonizes with Priest's own use of the Inclosure Schema. In order to achieve this I will formulate what I call the Curry Schema, show that it describes curry-like paradoxes in a way similar to how the Inclosure Schema describes those logical paradoxes that establish a contradiction, and formulate a more general schema, which characterizes both inclosure paradoxes and curry-like paradoxes. I will end, however, on a more critical note by pointing out why the resulting more general diagnosis of the logical paradoxes (now including Curry's paradox) might turn out to be ambivalent with regard to Priest's project.
To criticize Richard Swinburne's recent argument for the thesis that homosexuality is a disabilit... more To criticize Richard Swinburne's recent argument for the thesis that homosexuality is a disability that should be prevented and cured, I show that it rests on implausible premises about the concepts of love and of disability, and that the endorsement of its conclusion would lead to grave consequences for homosexuals. I conclude that Swinburne in his argument against homosexuality has moved beyond the limits of scientific philosophy, and into the realm of homophobia. Before I start my talk, let me introduce you to this little fellow. He is called Tinky Winky, and he is one of the five Teletubbies, who feature in a BBC television series for little children which started in 1997. The cheerful Teletubbies live in the Tubbytronic Superdome. They move and talk much like the toddlers in the intended audience of the series, their catch-phrases being "Eh-oh" (for "Hello"), "Bye-bye", and "Uh-oh" (when something went wrong). Tinky Winky has been the object of some moral and political controversy. In 1999, the evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell warned parents of Tinky Winky's hidden homosexuality. "He is purple -the gay-pride colour; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle -the gay pride symbol" 1 . (Falwell is at least partly wrong here, as the gay-pride color is pink; purple is feminist.) This summer, Tinky Winky was accused once again by Eva Sowinska, who at that time was the spokesperson for children of the Polish government. "I noticed he was carrying a woman's handbag. At first, I didn't realise he was a boy." 2 Therefore, Sowinska was worried that the TV show carried homosexual propaganda and ordered some psychologists to investigate. But Tinky Winky and his Polish fans can be relieved to hear that later Sowinska backtracked. Meanwhile, the sales of Tinky Winky toys have gone up in Poland. 3
Studia Logica - An International Journal for Symbolic Logic, 2010
I propose an account of the metaphysics of the expressions of a mathematical language which bring... more I propose an account of the metaphysics of the expressions of a mathematical language which brings together the structuralist construal of a mathematical object as a place in a structure, the semantic notion of indexicality and Kit Fine’s ontological theory of qua objects. By contrasting this indexical qua objects account with several other accounts of the metaphysics of mathematical expressions, I show that it does justice both to the abstractness that mathematical expressions have because they are mathematical objects and to the element of concreteness that they have because they are also used as signs. In a concluding section, I comment on the pragmatic element that has entered ontology by way of the notion of indexicality and use it to give an answer to a question Stewart Shapiro has recently posed about the status of meta-mathematics in the structuralist philosophy of mathematics.
Drafts by Martin Pleitz
Books by Martin Pleitz
Conference Presentations by Martin Pleitz
This presentation introduces the Core Constructional Ontology (CCO). It firstly provides the back... more This presentation introduces the Core Constructional Ontology (CCO). It firstly provides the background to the development of this ontology. It secondly, provides a summary of the approach to the development, looking at its key features and giving an overview of the formalisation.
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Papers by Martin Pleitz
Mras, Gabriele M. / Weingartner, Paul / Ritter, Bernhard (Hg.) 2018: Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics. Abstracts. 41st International Wittgenstein Symposium. August 5. – 11., 2018, Kirchberg am Wechsel: Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, 193-195.
Drafts by Martin Pleitz
Books by Martin Pleitz
Conference Presentations by Martin Pleitz
Mras, Gabriele M. / Weingartner, Paul / Ritter, Bernhard (Hg.) 2018: Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics. Abstracts. 41st International Wittgenstein Symposium. August 5. – 11., 2018, Kirchberg am Wechsel: Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, 193-195.