Of universes and worlds and stuff

  1. Philosophy Forum
  2. » Metaphysics
  3. » Of universes and worlds and stuff

Get Email Updates Email this Topic Print this Page

Emil
 
Reply Fri 9 Oct, 2009 08:49 pm
Of universes and worlds and stuff
I want to discuss how "universe", "world" and "thing" (or whatever word is chosen instead; for instance "object", "entity", "item", etc.) are best defined in philosophical contexts. Note that. Philosophical contexts. It is irrelevant how science uses "universe" as in, for instance, multi-verses. I have made some preliminary research in form of definition proposals. I want to put them to the test. I am only interested in analytic research. If you're interested in some vague discussion of similar question, then create a new thread for that. I assume that participants in this thread has some knowledge of logic, especially propositional logic and predicate logic. (And perhaps alethic logic too.)
Definition ideas

Some ideas about "universe":



U1. Universe ≡ the container of all contingent things.
U2. Universe ≡ that which all contingent things are a part of.
U3. Universe ≡ the set of all contingent things.



Some ideas about "world":



W1. World ≡ the container of all things.
W2. World ≡ that which all things are a part of.
W3. World ≡ the set of all things.



Thoughts and questions for further research

I consider it likely that it is a good idea to define "universe" and "world" in a likewise manner. If we do so, then the universe is in some sense a 'subset' of the world. One question is this: Is an empty universe possible (meaning logically possibility, that is, self-consistency)? Is an empty world? Is the universe a thing? Is it contingent? If yes to both questions, then the universe is part of itself. Is that a problem? Are there similar problems with the world? If we want to define "thing" (or whatever word) in such a way as to exclude the world, the universe or both, then how do we do that?



There are some problems with (3)-type definitions, and that is Russell's paradox. I don't understand the mathematics completely.
 
vectorcube
 
Reply Fri 9 Oct, 2009 11:18 pm
@Emil,
If a thing K is contingent, and that the universe U of all contingent things is a union of each contingent thing {KI}...{KN}. Is U contingent? I say yes. Why. Suppose a 5 bit string S, with symbols of either 0, or 1. Say that our universe is the value 01010. Since each symbol is contingent. If follows that our universe could be 10101. That is the intuition.

For the definition of world. There would still be abstract objects. I feel that i don` t need to commit to OA.
 
 

 
  1. Philosophy Forum
  2. » Metaphysics
  3. » Of universes and worlds and stuff
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 11/11/2024 at 01:39:34