2009-04-21
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Terminology: ontic/ontological, epistemic/epistemological?
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John CorcoranUniversity at Buffalo
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There are distinctions worth recognizing between 'ontic' and 'ontological'. The numbers are ontic entities. The theories of the nature of numbers are ontological. I would be reluctant to use the word 'ontological' in situations where explicit reference to the study of mind-independent reality is not called for. There are distinctions worth recognizing between 'epistemic' and
'epistemological'. My knowledge of the numbers is epistemic. Claims about my knowledge are epistemological. I would be reluctant to use the word
'epistemological' in situations where explicit reference to the study of
certain mind-dependent reality is not called for. There are distinctions worth recognizing between 'mental' and 'psychological'. The thoughts I am now having are all mental, not psychological.I would be reluctant to use the word
'psychological' in situations where explicit reference to the study of mental reality is not called for.
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