Naturalness: Abundant and Sparse Properties.

In Anna Sofia Maurin & Anthony Fisher (eds.), Routledge Handbook on Properties (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Commitment to sparseness amounts to the idea that there is an objective, worldly privileging of certain properties over others that makes the privileged properties suited to play certain roles, and is responsible for their playing such roles. In this chapter I offer a brief, opinionated overview of sparseness. I begin by examining a set of problems that I call “problems of abundance”, which generate canonical motivations for sparseness. I then survey some influential approaches to sparseness and the roles that they attribute to sparse properties, noting that on most approaches sparse properties are deeply connected to inquiry. Finally I consider some problems for sparseness, focusing on the purported connections between sparseness and inquiry, particularly in philosophy of science and inquiry into the social world.

Author's Profile

Elanor Taylor
Johns Hopkins University

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-01-09

Downloads
262 (#55,230)

6 months
120 (#25,551)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?