Abstract Nelson Goodman’s theory of symbol systems expounded in his Languages Art has been frequently criticized on many counts (cf. list secondary literature the entry “Goodman’s Aesthetics” Stanford Encyclopedia Philosophy and Sect. 3 below). Yet it exerts a strong influence is treated as one major twentieth-century theories subject. While controversial theses are criticized, technical notion...

It is now commonly accepted that N. Goodman's predicate "grue" presents the theory of confirmation of C. G. Hempel (and other such theories) with grave difficulties. The precise nature and status of these "difficulties" has, however, never been made clear. In this paper it is argued that it is very unlikely that "grue" raises any formal difficulties for Hempel and appearances to the contrary ar...

Gustav Droysen introduced understanding as the method of history. Max Weber analyzed what-if statements or counterfactuals a form causal explanation. Both scholars had common interest in and However, Droysen’s explanation was defined natural sciences served no use history, while Weber’s focused on social reality rather than historical one. Still, precisely idea difference-making later reinterpr...

When participants are asked to spontaneously categorize a set of items, they typically produce unidimensional classifications, i.e., categorize the items on the basis of only one of their dimensions of variation. We examine whether it is possible to predict unidimensional vs. two-dimensional classification on the basis of the abstract stimulus structure, by employing Pothos and Chater's simplic...