Abstraction Principles and Part-Whole: a Retrospective Survey

Paolo Mancosu (University of California, Berkeley)

29 May 2026, 17:00 (Lisbon Time – WET)

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa

Sala Mattos Romão [C201.J] (Departamento de Filosofia)

Abstract: In this talk, I will give a survey of my work on the interaction between abstraction principles in neologicism and the part-whole property for Fregean concepts. Two Fregean concepts A and B stand in the relation of part-whole just in case the objects that fall under A are strictly included in the objects that fall under B. An abstraction principle with abstraction operator $ satisfies part-whole just in case it tracks the part-whole property, that is whenever A is strictly included in B then $(A)≠$(B). I will first discuss abstraction principles that satisfy part-whole and how they relate to the bad company objection for neologicism. Then I will look at principles that do not satisfy part-whole and how they relate to the good company objection for neologicism.