Practice question · Put in order
Arrange the steps of the pluralist strategy in logical order.
- Reject the claim that what-is must be single
- Explain apparent change as their mixing and separating
- Accept that nothing can come to be from what-is-not
- Recover the observable world without violating the ban
- Posit many eternal, unchanging principles
Hints
- The strategy begins by conceding Parmenides’ strongest premise.
- The observable world is recovered at the end, as the payoff.
Show the answer
- Accept that nothing can come to be from what-is-not
- Reject the claim that what-is must be single
- Posit many eternal, unchanging principles
- Explain apparent change as their mixing and separating
- Recover the observable world without violating the ban
Why
Concede the strongest premise, reject the weaker one, and rebuild. It is a model of how philosophical positions actually respond to arguments they cannot refute, locate the least costly premise and give that up.
Practise The Pluralists: Empedocles and Anaxagoras
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