PHL100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Foundationalism, Circular Reasoning, Intension
Document Summary
Every reason may be questioned, and require its own reason. Plato is going back until the world is forms. You can base everything on that solid foundation. No one has found a foundation that no one has not challenged. Sense: the specs we have in mind: what something has to be like to be x. (also called the intension of a term) Reference: the things that term picks out in the world. (also called the extension of a word) To ask about the sense of the word is to ask about the criteria for ascribing happiness: Or (as some ancient sages suggested) can you judge no one happy until they are dead . Asking about the reference (extension or denotation) of happiness: Or perhaps: what are happy circumstances, events lives. We want to know what happiness is. What if what you want is to cause pain to others. What if what you want kills you.
