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Philosophical pictures and secondary qualities

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Abstract

The paper presents a novel account of nature and genesis of some philosophical problems, which vindicates a new approach to an arguably central and extensive class of such problems: The paper develops the Wittgensteinian notion of ‘philosophical pictures’ with the help of some notions adapted from metaphor research in cognitive linguistics and from work on unintentional analogical reasoning in cognitive psychology. The paper shows that adherence to such pictures systematically leads to the formulation of unwarranted claims, ill-motivated problems, and pointless theories. To do so, the paper proceeds from a case-study on a lastingly influential development in early modern philosophy: the adoption of the doctrine of secondary qualities, and its principal consequences. The findings motivate a new approach to an arguably extensive and important class of philosophical problems: to the problems we raise in the grip of philosophical pictures.

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Abbreviations

EHU:

An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Locke (1700/1975), with references (like II.viii.18) to book (II), chapter (viii), and Sect. (18)

OFQ:

‘The Origin of Forms and Qualities’, Boyle (1666/1979), with page references

SAG:

Il Saggiatore, Sect. 48, Galilei (1623/1960), with page references; where necessary, I provide my own translation, from Galilei (1623/1953)

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  1. University of East Anglia, East Anglia, UK

    Eugen Fischer

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  1. Eugen Fischer
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Correspondence to Eugen Fischer.

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Fischer, E. Philosophical pictures and secondary qualities. Synthese 171, 77–110 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-008-9380-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-008-9380-0

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