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Temporal Points of View pp 223–234Cite as

Grounding Qualitative Dimensions

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Part of the book series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics ((SAPERE,volume 23))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is further complete an approach to Point of View (PoV) that could help us to set up a framework of evaluation and comparison. First, I introduce the notion of PoV as access in order to distinguish the model of accessing from other ways to understand PoV and then taking distance from purely relativist approaches. Second, I provide an explanation and development of some important notions introduced for the applicability of PoV. Third, since PoV allow setting a reference frame from where to evaluate the different objects accessed, I offer a comparison within PoV (independently of their different possible bearers). Since objects and states can be differently evaluated from different PoV, these will be considered as different qualitative dimensions of the world and its objects. They will serve as crucial elements of translation between all possible PoV, establishing degrees of comparison when the translation is not completely at hand.

This work has been granted by Spanish Government, “Ministerio de Economía y Competividad”, Research Projects FFI2008-01205 (Points of View. A Philosophical Investigation), FFI2011-24549, (Points of View and Temporal Structures), and FFI2014-57409-R (Points of View, Dispositions, and Time. Perspectives in a World of Dispositions).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I use PoV to refer to Point of View in singular as well as Points of View in plural, as it is usual and has conveyed in the introduction and other chapters of this volume.

  2. 2.

    It is very important to realize that here the particular what it is like to be a telescope, or a bat, or whatever other thing phenomenally based is not relevant. Since the particular content of the PoV neither is the basis of evaluation nor is addressed, the subjectivity of the bearer of the PoV is out of the equation. Then, the theory of PoV as access is not a relativist position in the usual way since PoV have an objective and metaphysically grounded reality independently of their contents.

  3. 3.

    Even though the notion of determination is analyzed several times in the history of philosophy, being of key importance, the notion of PoV as being taken aside, and there is no a systematic analysis of what it is and what structure it has.

  4. 4.

    Moline’s is not the only behaviorist approach to PoV. Brandom [1], for instance, also develops an account of PoV as referred to moral practical reasoning. See Charro and Colomina [4, Sect. 2] for more on this matter.

  5. 5.

    Carnap employed this notion to similarly apply it to families of related properties [2]. Posteriorly, he classified primitive attributes also into families such that the attributes of a family are related to each other by belonging to the same general kind according to the state space [3].

  6. 6.

    For reasons of space, I will leave open here the question of the coherence of different PoV, which it will be analyze in future research.

  7. 7.

    I have also intentionally left aside another way to compare determinables: the very interesting distinction between physical and mental determinables introduced by Yablo [13]. The discussion of this point here will unnecessarily extend the length of the chapter.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

    Juan J. Colomina

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  1. Juan J. Colomina
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Correspondence to Juan J. Colomina .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Philosophy, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

    Margarita Vázquez Campos

  2. Faculty of Philosophy, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

    Antonio Manuel Liz Gutiérrez

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Colomina, J.J. (2015). Grounding Qualitative Dimensions. In: Vázquez Campos, M., Liz Gutiérrez, A. (eds) Temporal Points of View. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19815-6_7

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