Hewitt, S (2015) When Do Some Things Form a Set? Philosophia Mathematica, 23 (3). 311 - 337. ISSN 0031-8019
Abstract
This paper raises the question under what circumstances a plurality forms a set, parallel to the Special Composition Question for mereology. The range of answers that have been proposed in the literature are surveyed and criticised. I argue that there is good reason to reject both the view that pluralities never form sets and the view that pluralities always form sets. Instead, we need to affirm restricted set formation. Casting doubt on the availability of any informative principle which will settle which pluralities form sets, the paper concludes by affirming a naturalistic approach to the philosophy of set theory.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015, The Author. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Philosophia Mathematica following peer review. The version of record Hewitt, S (2015) When Do Some Things Form a Set? Philosophia Mathematica, 23 (3). 311 - 337. ISSN 0031-8019, is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/philmat/nkv010. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Sep 2015 09:13 |
Last Modified: | 19 Apr 2017 04:34 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/philmat/nkv010 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/philmat/nkv010 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89463 |