PHI 210 Lecture 8: The epistemic theory of vagueness
Document Summary
Vague expressions are tolerant": small changes do not affect the applicability of the word. (sainsbury, p. 46) Can"t reject 1 without rejecting 2, and vice-versa. Small changes can affect the applicability of a vague expression such as heap . At some point, the reasoning behind the sorites paradox relies on a premise that is not true: If x grains of sand is a heap, then x-1 grains of sand is a heap. If (x-1) grains of sand is not a heap, then x (= (x- 1)+1) grains of sand is not a heap. Small changes can affect the applicability of a vague expression such as heap. There is some number x such that: x grains of sand is a heap, x-1 grains of sand is not a heap. Problem: hard to argue that 1 & 2 are true for any specific value for x, such as 100 or 57.
