Intrinsic, extrinsic, and the constitutive a priori. (English) Zbl 1486.03014
Summary: On the basis of what I call physico-formalist philosophy of mathematics, I will develop an amended account of the Kantian-Reichenbachian conception of constitutive a priori. It will be shown that the features (attributes, qualities, properties) attributed to a real object are not possessed by the object as a “thing-in-itself”; they require a physical theory by means of which these features are constituted. It will be seen that the existence of such a physical theory implies that a physical object can possess a property only if other contingently existing physical objects exist; therefore, the intrinsic-extrinsic distinction is flawed.
Keywords:
Reichenbach; constitutive a priori; physicalism; formalism; meaning; truth; holism; intrinsic propertyReferences:
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