Why be an Eleatic Stranger?
OntologyEleatic principleArmstrongD.M.Systematic philosophyEthicsAestheticsMetaphysicsEpistemologyIdeologySystematisk filosofiEtikEstetikMetafysikKunskapsteoriIdeologiPhilosophy and Religion
In the last two decades something called ?the Eleatic Principle? has been quite frequent in philosophical literature. A wide range of philosophers have appealed to this principle when arguing for varioustheses but the principle itself has received comparatively little attention. Especially questions regarding the principle's justificationare often ignored or only mentioned in passing. The aim of this paper is to remedy this situation somewhat by focusing on how it could be justified.In section 2 I give an overview of the various ways in which the principle has been used to clarify just what we are dealing with here. In section 3 I attempt to give some structure to this use by distinguishing three ways in which the principle can be formulatedand offer some comments on the principle's scope. This serves to setthe stage for section 4 which addresses first an epistemic approachto justification (section 4.1) and then an analytic approach (section4.2). Even though I consider myself a proponent of the principle I will not attempt to justify it, that is beyond my present powers. What I argue for is something weaker: if you want to justify the Eleatic Principle then you should take the analytic approach.