Keith Douglas
Last time, I asked about the metaphysics of pregnancy, biological development and such along several aspects. I do not have answers, except perhaps to point out the connection to the “personal identity” literature. If you believe that what you are (if you think there is such a thing or process) is mediated through your memory (as Locke and many psychologists seem to hold) then you were never a gamete because gametes have no memory to preserve. You are perhaps “gendentical” to the gametes that formed you, but that is just a fancy way of saying a process of transformations got you from there to here.
Grounding Truth
This month I write about truth values. It seems plausible to assume that if something is true, there is something that, so to say, “makes it” true or “grounds” its truth. For example, the charge on the electron grounds the truth of the statement “Electrons have electric charge X units” (with the value and units you choose filled in). So consider what is the so-called truth maker for each of the following. Note: Some of these might not be statements! Also, some might not be true.
0) Two bodies attract each other gravitationally with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
1) I like ice cream.
2) Joan likes cello music.
3) Some people like anchovy pizza.
4) Nobody likes tar pizza.
5) Killing an unarmed human being at random on the street is wrong.
6) Not giving 5% zakat is wrong.
7) I dub this ship “The Lollypop.”
8) Bobbins!
9) Everyone loves a lover.
10) Oxygen and hydrogen combine in a 1:2 proportion to form water.
11) 1+1=2
12) 1+1=0
13) I am me.
14) For every statement, either p or not p.
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