We propose that not all such arguments are on a par. The first section of the paper distinguishes dialectically effective from dialectically ineffective arguments against metaphysical vagueness. The second section constructs an argument against metaphysical vagueness – specifically, an argument against objects that are indeterminate in what parts they have – which promises to be dialectically e...

The notion of fuzzy function based on many-valued equivalence relations (many-valued similarity relations (equalities) [17, 18, 19], fuzzy equivalence relations [4, 6, 7, 21, 22, 26], similarity relations [1, 2, 3, 15, 28], indistinguishability operators [27], etc.) has been introduced by several authors, and applied to category theory [5], approximate reasoning and fuzzy control theory [8, 10,...

David Lewis (1986) criticizes moderate views of composition on the grounds that a restriction on composition must be vague, and vague composition leads, via a precisificational theory of vagueness, to an absurd vagueness of existence. I show how to resist this argument. Unlike the usual resistance, however, I do not jettison precisificational views of vagueness. Instead, I blur the connection b...

In this paper the authors propose a new method of intelligent search using the vague set theory of Gau and Buehrer. Copyright c © 2006 Yang’s Scientific Research Institute, LLC. All rights reserved.

Vague predicates, those that exhibit borderline cases, pose a persistent problem for philosophers and logicians. Although they are ubiquitous in natural language, when used in a logical context, vague predicates lead to contradiction. This paper will address a question that is intimately related to this problem. Given their inherent imprecision, why do vague predicates arise in the first place?...