Correspondence and Coherence blog

[Easy Truth]

I disagreed with him vehemently on some things, but I will miss him.

[Boydstun]

I met Merlin in the fall of 1977. We were among those attending the taped lecture course The Philosophy of Objectivism by Leonard Peikoff. It was being played up at Northwestern University. We got a bit acquainted chatting on the “L” train, which I took from the Lincoln Park area of Chicago and which Merlin took after taking a bigger train in from the western suburbs. He was an actuarial account.

I got to know him better in the late ’80’s through attending the monthly salon New Intellectual Forum, which was organized by Marsha Enright of Chicago. Merlin sometimes attended the summer seminars of David Kelley, and he sometimes attended OCON. My sector of Merlin’s life was the life of the mind. What I know of him additionally was that he was a runner, he loved baseball, he was in the Army in the Vietnam years, and if I recall correctly, he grew up on a farm in Indiana. In recent years, he and wife Rebecca lived outside Cleveland.

In 1990 I began the journal Objectivity with only two articles: one big one by me and one by Merlin. I had written articles in social philosophy in the ’80’s for publication in the magazine Nomos. I think Merlin’s initial article "The Nature of Numbers" in Objectivity was the beginning of his writing. I worked with him in researching his second, more ambitious article "Philosophy of Mathematics" (also 1990). Next were his articles "Imagination and Cognition" (1991) and "Theories of Truth" (1992-93). All correspondence during the making of these articles and the journal were by paper in the mail. In working with Merlin on reaching past writings on his topics, he and I were learning together more and more philosophy and cognitive developmental psychology. I have fond memories of our studies together in person, after business hours, at the office where I was then working in the western suburb where Merlin lived: original texts of Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza, et al. in connection with Merlin’s large treatise on truth.

Next for Objectivity, Merlin wrote: "On Probability" (1994) /  "Time, Prescience, and Biology" (1995) /  "Pursuing Similarity" (1998).

Beyond the years of Objectivity, Merlin wrote some interesting pieces for the online forum Rebirth of Reason and papers in the scholarly Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. I’ll link those in a subsequent post. The following are links to and Abstracts of Merlin’s compositions in Objectivity.

The Nature of Numbers – Proposes definition, ontology, and referents for numbers, imaginaries, irrationals, infinities. (12 pages)

Philosophy of Mathematics – Surveys philosophies of mathematics, ancient and modern. Portrays mathematical concepts as objective; abstracting from and extending beyond experience. A modern Millian stance, opposing aprioristic and purely analytic conceptions of mathematics. (32 pages)

Imagination and Cognition – Reveals vital role of imagination in the growth of knowledge. Presents various attitudes towards imagination taken through the ages. Introduces important recent theory of Mark Johnson. (35 pages)

Theories of Truth - Part 1 – Reviews history of thought concerning the nature of truth. Covers Aristotle, the Stoics, Aquinas, and Ockham. Introduces correspondence theory of truth and critical issues for any theory of truth. Covers Hobbes, Locke, and Leibniz; early roots of the coherence theory of truth. Spinoza and Kant; growth of coherence, withering of correspondence. (30 pages)

Theories of Truth - Part 2 – Hegel, Bradley, Joachim, and Blanshard; heydays of metaphysical idealism and coherence theory; truth as system. Dispute over foundational truth. Character of scientific truth. (40 pages)

Theories of Truth - Part 3 – Peirce, James, and Dewey; pragmatist theories of truth; objectivity, verificationism, and instrumentalism. Sorts out the relations of pragmatist theory to correspondence and coherence theories. Assesses those three theories. Takes up modern truth theory; the linguistic turn of the twentieth century. Tarski and Ramsey; the semantic and redundancy theories of truth. Includes diagnosis of the Liar paradox. Draws out implications of Rand's epistemology and metaphysics for truth theory. Stakes proper places of correspondence and coherence in quests of truth. (33 pages)

On Probability – Lays out the elements of probability theory and the various philosophical views of probability: Logical, Subjective, Frequency, and Propensity. (29 pages)

Time, Prescience, and Biology – Reconceives traditional philosophic concepts such as necessity, possibility, and a priori in terms of the survival requirements of human beings in changing environments. Redraws, in the light of modern biology and neurology, the dispute between Empiricists and Rationalists over innate ideas. Assimilates pertinent recent work of Henry Plotkin and of Gerald Edelman. (45 pages)

Pursuing Similarity – Pursues the ontological status and cognitive roles of similarity. Displays and critiques the analyses of philosophers; including Plato, Aristotle, Abelard, Henry of Harclay, Ockham, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, Wittgenstein, and Rand. Supplements philosophic thought on similarity with research and theory from cognitive and developmental psychologists; including Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, Eleanor Rosch, Ryszard Michalski, and Frank Keil. (89 pages)

[whYNOT]

!

I am shocked and sad. Stephen: Thanks for helping keep his work alive.

[Jim Henderson]

Thanks Stephen for your comments and summary of the great work done by Merlin over the years.

[Boydstun]

Abstracts for Merlin’s papers in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies

2006 (V7N2) – Omissions and Measurement – Ayn Rand said that measurement omission is an essential part of concept formation. This essay argues that something else is omitted much, even most, of the time. The nature of measurement is explored in order to support the argument. The author agrees with Rand's more general claim that concepts are grounded in similarities and differences. However, he argues that her theory is partly flawed in claiming that all differences between similar existents are ones of measurement. (See also 1991.)

2011 (V11N2) – The Sim-Dif Model and Comparison – This article presents a new conceptual or categorization model. It will be compared to a similar but simpler model. The models are given in the form of Venn diagrams. The model and examples using are explored to illuminate the role of similarities and differences in concept formation, which is sometimes complex. It explores abstraction, conceptual change by children and in science, and similarity metrics. It proposes that comparison is the basic act of thought.

2017 (V17N1) – The Beneficiary Statement and Beyond – The beneficiary statement refers to a passage in the Introduction of The Virtue of Selfishness. It concerns who the beneficiary of an action should be and any breach between actor and beneficiary. This article critiques said passage and shows how rational self-interest extends beyond the actor's self-interest more narrowly conceived. It critiques the Trader Principle and shows further how trade extends rational self-interest beyond the actor's self-interest more narrowly conceived. It shows how the virtue of independence does not imply that all dependence is a vice. Dependence in collaborative action even extends to the virtue of productiveness.

2018 (V18N1) – Egoism and Others – Ayn Rand was a strong and influential advocate of self-interest, of ethical egoism. What does her version of egoism mean in practical terms pertaining to interactions with other people generally other than not violating their rights and not committing fraud? This article explores that question with special attention to trust and cooperation. Ayn Rand said little about trust and cooperation in her ethics, but these are important aspects of living a productive life.

2021 (V21N1) – Selfish versus Selfish – Ayn Rand's controversial use of “selfish” and “selfishness” has arguably done as much or more to supply “grist” to her critics and drive people away from her philosophy than to persuade people to adopt it. This article is about her meaning of “selfish” and the common, popular meaning. Succinctly, the former is a high-level abstraction, philosophical, and mainly a way of thinking, whereas the latter is a low-level abstraction, not philosophical, and mainly a way of acting. They also have different contrast terms.

 

Articles from Rebirth of Reason

2005 The Corruption of Measurement / Locke on Essence

2006 Scope of Volition / Mind and Representation 

2009 The Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction 

2010 The Problem of Induction 

2013 On Kant's Ethical Theory 

2014 An Analysis of Egoism and Altruism 

2015 From Selfishness to Rational Self-Interest

Edited February 8, 2022 by Boydstun

[Boydstun]

 

2020 Rand's Misunderstood Position on Altruism