Was Grice A Synechist?

--- by JLS
------ for the GC

WE THINK SO. At least he wasn't obviously a tychist. But the idea of a continuant is vague. For Strawson, a continuant is a spatio-temporal continuant: a person, for example. (Wiggins). For Grice, the 'space' is not as important as the 'time' at least it wasn't when back in 1941 he defined 'person' only in terms of chronological continuant (mnemonic temporary states).

Grice would say that a krypo-technicalism may raise the improper questions (and ignore the proper ones) but this is the OED, literally.

JLS

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synechism. Philos. [f. Gr. sunekho continuous + -ism: cf. synechia.] The doctrine that continuity is one of the most important principles in scientific explanation. Hence 'synechist,' an adherent of this doctrine.

1892 C. S. Peirce in Monist II. 534

The tendency to regard continuity, in the sense in which I shall define it, as an idea of prime importance in philosophy may conveniently be termed synechism.

1902 J. M. Baldwin Dict. Philos. & Psychol. II. 657/1

The synechist maintains that the only..justification for..entertaining a hypothesis, is that it affords an explanation of the phenomena.

1909 W. James Pluralistic Universe 398

Peirce meets this objection by combining his tychism with an express doctrine of
`synechism' or continuity.

1937 Mind XLVI. 394

Book i sets forth the doctrines of Tychism, Synechism, and Agapism: that is to say, it attempts to explain the universe by the use of Pure Chance, Continuity, and
psychological categories.

1976 Internat. Philos. Q. XVI. 228

This difficulty is also found in Peirce's notions of tychism and synechism.

--- So now we know.