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Sounds restrictive (as in you text
below).
Would you exclude the 'impredicativity' (as I
understand the word) of unlimited natural systems with unlimited qualia?
Are all the unknowables oredicative?
as per your quote [EL p. 39] I agree, in
formal models there are hiatuses by the limitations of the observed features
only, leaving impredicative aspects open, but to restrict the term to these
ONLY? (Then again I am not sure about the "such" in it.)
John M
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 8:52
AM
Subject: Re: The difference between
"Causal" and "Impredicative" loops, etc.
I'm glad you
brought that up, Judith. I recall there was some confusion on the old list
whether RR applied 'impredicative' to formal models only, or also to
natural systems. And some of the phrasing in Essays adds to the confusion. For
example:
"I claim that, as material systems, organisms are full
of such impredicativities." [EL p. 39]
It makes sense
to me that 'impredicativity' is intended to apply to formal models only.
I imagine that in the above quote he meant that the models of
organisms are full of such impredicativities. And that it appears in the
shorter form because for him all epistemology occurs via the modeling relation
[EL p. 324] -- to understand organisms (or any other natural system)
is to understand them via their models. So 'the models
of' phrase is implicit.
How does that
sound?
Regards,
Tim
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