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shminux comments on [Poll] Less Wrong and Mainstream Philosophy: How Different are We? - Less Wrong
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Another false dichotomy. The word exist means different things to different people.
Yes, this is definitely a confused question. "Correspondence" is complicated.
People shouldn't use "exists" to mean "corresponds to some pattern of matter and energy" (so apparently I'm a Platonist); yet they also shouldn't ignore the ontological distinction between numbers and atoms (so I guess I'm also kind of a nominalist).
Life is so much easier for an instrumentalist, for whom "exist" is quite clearly defined.
I agree with you that the distinction here gets at what people mean by "exists," but am not sure what makes that a false dichotomy. Personally, I lean towards nominalism precisely because "exist" isn't a verb I would apply to abstract objects... whatever it is that existence consists of, abstract objects don't do that thing.
Wikipedia:
For example, abstract objects could be considered to exist in the minds of people imagining them, and consequently in some neuronal pattern, which may or may not match between different individuals, but considered to not exist as something independent of the conscious minds imagining them. While this is a version of nominalism, it is not nearly as clear-cut as "abstract objects do not exist".
That would be conceptualism and is a moderate anti-realist position about universals (if you're a physicalist). Nominalism and Platonism are two poles of a continuum about realism of universals. So, you probably lean towards nominalism if you're a physicalist and conceptualist.
I only used the word "exist" in a sentence because TheOtherDave and I agree on the meaning of it, which I doubt that any of the -ists you mention (probably including you) would agree with.
And what meaning is that?
That seems to me to be pretty straightforward nominalism to me. I'm having a hard time imagining a more strict nominalist who would call your view an intermediate between his view and platonism.
OK, thanks for clarifying.
I agree that if I don't have a crisp understanding of what it means for X to exist (such that maybe X implemented as a neuronal pattern exists, and maybe it doesn't, and no amount of data about the world could tell me which it is because I don't know how states of the world map to the existence or nonexistence of X in the first place ) then I can't clearly assert whether X exists or not.
For my own part, I'm fairly comfortable refusing to use "exists" to refer to that which abstract objects are doing by virtue of being represented by a particular neuronal pattern, and I'm consequently fairly comfortable identifying as a nominalist (for purposes of this question). If I were instead comfortable using "exists" to refer to that act, I would identify as a Platonist (fpotq). If I was comfortable doing both, or neither, I would choose "Other."