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Quentin Meillassoux (6) - Critique 3: Hyper-Chaos and the Necessitarian Inference

45:55EnglishTranscribed Jul 4, 2026
0:08

Hey everyone, Nathan here, absurd being

0:11

and video six in this series on Mayor

0:14

Sue. We're going to be looking at

0:18

two ideas basically hyper chaos and the

0:22

necessitarian inference or also and

0:25

probably more focusing on the

0:28

frequentialist implication which kind of

0:32

goes along with that.

0:34

Uh so yeah, we're just going to look at

0:36

at the ideas, some of the arguments in

0:38

detail that Mayor Sue puts forward

0:41

regarding these two concepts and then um

0:46

analyze them, see if they see if they

0:48

stack up. So we'll start off with hyper

0:52

chaos.

0:56

So the arguments that Mayasu uses

0:59

regarding hyper chaos are essentially to

1:01

try and rein that idea back a bit.

1:05

We've gone he's kind of gone too far

1:07

with what he was trying to do here. So

1:10

his principle of factuality

1:12

ends up as as um

1:17

putting forward the idea that the

1:18

absolute is pure contingency. Another

1:23

[clears throat] way he puts that the

1:24

principle of factiality, the principle

1:26

of unreason.

1:28

And the basic idea is that anything can

1:30

happen at any time for no reason at all.

1:35

So we have hyper chaos and that doesn't

1:38

work for Mayu because he wants to ground

1:41

scientific discourse in something

1:44

certain in an absolute.

1:48

And we we've he's gotten an absolute but

1:52

the nature of this absolute is such that

1:56

it brings about this notion of hyper

1:58

chaos which doesn't ground which can't

2:00

ground scientific discourse. So he wants

2:04

to rein it back and he's going to put

2:07

two limitations on hyper chaos that he

2:10

thinks um

2:13

follow. And the the two limitations are

2:16

basically going to bring it back in line

2:18

with the weak version of correlationism

2:22

which was Kant's version uh which leaves

2:25

us with something which is in itself

2:28

which is unknowable but thinkable

2:33

and um and yeah so the the limitations

2:36

that we're going to look at here kind of

2:38

bring bring the this notion of hyper

2:41

chaos or the principle of factuality

2:43

back into kind of a place which is

2:48

solid instead of this rampant hyper

2:52

chaos.

2:54

So the first limitation

2:57

is the notion that a a contradictory

3:01

entity is absolutely impossible.

3:06

And Mayasu's argument goes like this. If

3:08

an entity were contradictory,

3:11

it would be necessary

3:13

because there would be no alterity

3:16

for it which it could become.

3:22

And the idea behind this is that what

3:25

Mayasu is saying is if a contradictory

3:28

entity existed,

3:30

it couldn't lapse into non-being because

3:34

even if it happened to not be,

3:38

it would still be in accordance with its

3:42

paradoxical or contradictory essence.

3:47

So that's the argument

3:49

and the point of this is to validate the

3:54

principle of non-contradiction which

3:56

you're if you remember was one of the

4:00

um ideas behind K's thing in itself.

4:06

So trying to validate this principle of

4:07

non-contradiction um a contradictory

4:10

entity is impossible.

4:12

If something sounds a little bit off

4:14

with that as I've described it, um,

4:17

you're not alone in thinking that

4:19

because basically

4:22

this is all just semantics. It's all

4:24

just word play I think. And the reason

4:28

is that contradiction

4:31

does not apply to entities themselves or

4:35

as Mayasu says they're their essences.

4:39

In other words, talk of a contradictory

4:42

entity

4:44

is conceptual nonsense. And that's

4:47

exactly what Mayasu is trying to put

4:49

forward here. The notion that a con a

4:51

contradictory entity is absolutely

4:54

impossible. But right from the start

4:56

there, if you if you just direct your

4:58

focus on that on that expression, that

5:01

proposition,

5:04

it's it's easy to let it slide and kind

5:06

of um go go with it from there. Go with

5:11

it as Mayasu puts it forward. But if you

5:14

actually take a moment to think about

5:16

it, we know what contradictory is and we

5:18

know what entity is. So, we know what

5:21

the words all mean here,

5:24

but they've been put together in such a

5:27

way that they just don't make any sense.

5:29

That and that's the trick here. That

5:31

that's why it sounds plausible because

5:34

we know what these words mean

5:35

individually.

5:37

So, we think there that he's saying

5:39

something meaningful, but actually if

5:41

you put them together, you don't get

5:43

anything meaningful. A contradictory

5:45

entity. What What could that even mean?

5:49

Contradiction applies to things like

5:52

ideas, to propositions, claims, beliefs

5:57

about things,

6:00

not to existing things themselves or the

6:05

essences of things.

6:09

So it it's contradictory, say, to

6:11

believe in evolution and creationism at

6:14

the same time, to think that they're

6:15

both true in some way. Or it's a

6:18

contradiction to say to claim that I

6:20

took the bus to work and that I drove to

6:23

work as well. So contradictions about

6:27

things

6:29

claims or beliefs about certain things,

6:33

not about things themselves. It just

6:35

doesn't mean anything to say this is a

6:37

contradictory entity.

6:40

And you might think about this, this

6:43

might come to mind. What about a square

6:45

circle? Isn't that an example of a

6:47

contradictory entity? But the circle is

6:51

not contradictory there.

6:54

What's contradictory is the claim that

6:56

the circle is square, i.e. that it has

7:01

certain properties.

7:05

In other words, it's a claim about the

7:08

predicates of the circle, the properties

7:11

of the circle, not the circle itself,

7:15

the essence of the circle, whatever that

7:17

might mean. So, this is the problem with

7:20

this. A contradictory entity is is

7:22

impossible. May sue claims, but a

7:25

contradictory entity just doesn't it

7:27

doesn't mean anything.

7:29

So there's so that that's the first the

7:32

first claim and the first problem with

7:35

it or and the the problem with that

7:38

first claim. The second claim uh of May

7:42

to try and limit this hyper chaos he

7:46

calls the thesis of the there is

7:50

and basically the idea with this he

7:52

wants to say that he wants to emphasize

7:54

that there is an absolute. So even

7:58

though his absolute

8:00

um

8:03

his principle of factuality gave us or

8:05

gave him an absolute that was

8:08

contingency

8:10

possibility facticity. This opened the

8:13

door to that that notion of hyper chaos

8:15

in which we might be able to say that

8:17

maybe there there could be nothing then

8:20

for no reason at all. um there could be

8:22

no absolute that the situation might

8:25

change in some way again for no reason

8:27

at all but he wants to rule that out

8:29

that possibility

8:32

there is an absolute

8:34

and so the argument

8:38

that may uses here he starts by

8:40

considering a possible objection

8:44

against his claim that there is an

8:46

absolute and there are two possible

8:49

thesis here that he puts forward the

8:51

weak thesis is if something exists then

8:54

it must be contingent

8:57

and the strong thesis there are things

9:00

and those things must be contingent.

9:03

So both of those claims argue that there

9:05

are only contingent things. There's no

9:08

nothing is absolute.

9:10

So the strong thesis

9:12

um we don't need to worry about so much

9:14

because may for mayor sue this grants

9:17

his goal already. In other words, that

9:20

contingency is necessary. Right? To say

9:23

that the strong thesis there are things

9:26

and those things must be contingent is

9:28

to grant that contingency is necessary,

9:31

which is exactly what he wants to say.

9:34

There is an absolute.

9:36

So he assumes the weak thesis.

9:40

And if we assume the weak thesis,

9:43

the situation is it's not necessary that

9:46

factual things exist. In other words,

9:49

things don't have to exist. But if they

9:52

do, they're factual.

9:56

But once you grant that, once you allow

9:58

that, you've already unwittingly given

10:02

Mayor Sue everything he needs because he

10:05

then will just move his analysis back a

10:08

step

10:11

and say that okay, the things

10:13

themselves, the things that exist, if

10:15

they do, are factual or contingent. And

10:19

he calls this first order facticity.

10:22

But the proposition

10:25

that only factual things exist is itself

10:29

being treated as necessary here. In

10:33

order for you to state that thesis in

10:36

the first place, you're having to

10:38

presuppose something necessary, namely

10:41

that proposition that only factual

10:44

things exist.

10:46

Further, this necessary proposition,

10:49

this proposition that you must make if

10:52

you want to put forward this thesis

10:56

expresses a contingency

10:58

in the fact that it says if something

11:01

exists

11:03

and this Mayu calls a second order

11:06

facticity.

11:08

So putting all of that together, we have

11:12

the situation that there is an absolute,

11:15

the proposition that factual things

11:17

exist, and it is contingent because the

11:21

proposition may or may not hold.

11:26

So contingency is necessary. That's

11:29

exactly what Mayasu was after. Um, and

11:32

that's what he's got. Problems.

11:35

First first of all just note before we

11:38

look at the problems this is basically

11:40

saying the same thing as the principle

11:42

of factiality.

11:44

Um so it it asserts that there is an

11:46

absolute by arguing that the absolute is

11:49

contingency or facticity which is the

11:52

same as possibility when we were talking

11:54

about it in the last video but it does

11:58

use a slightly different argument.

12:02

Um so

12:04

given that it's the same kind of thing

12:06

although

12:08

um coming at this

12:10

deriving the conclusion slightly from a

12:13

from a slightly different position.

12:16

What we're going to see is that it will

12:19

um

12:21

it's also as we saw with the principle

12:24

of factuality a kind of a bit of a

12:26

semantic game of mirrors. And even

12:29

although it works in a slightly

12:31

different way, it falls to exactly the

12:33

same kinds of criticisms.

12:37

So I'm going to frame this whole section

12:41

in exactly the same with exactly the

12:44

same um format that I used to talk about

12:46

the principle of factiality.

12:48

and and there as with we did as as we

12:51

did with that we'll start by looking at

12:54

with the word play the semantics that

12:57

are going on here. So Mayasu's weak

13:00

thesis says that if something exists

13:03

then it must be contingent

13:06

which on its own is 100% reasonable.

13:09

There's no problem with that. But Mayasu

13:12

can't leave it there because he wants to

13:14

prove that something does exist.

13:18

namely the absolute. So the whole as I

13:21

said the whole thing the whole focus of

13:24

Mayu's

13:26

um

13:27

the whole Mayasu's entire focus shifts

13:31

back a step from the things themselves

13:34

to the proposition about those things

13:38

and this is exactly where the problem

13:41

is. His conclusion is that there is an

13:44

absolute the proposition that factual

13:47

things exist

13:49

and it is contingent because the

13:51

proposition may or may not hold.

13:54

The you what we saw with the usage of

13:57

the word if. But

14:00

propositions, statements, ideas,

14:05

these things can't be necessary or

14:08

contingent.

14:11

What what can be necessary or contingent

14:15

are things actually concrete existing

14:19

things they can be necessary or

14:21

contingent. In other words, first order

14:24

facticity

14:25

which is actually the only order

14:28

facticity here.

14:30

Second order facticity is actually

14:32

nothing. It's it's a metaphysical

14:35

chimera.

14:37

Um because what it claims is factical

14:44

is an abstract concept i.e. that

14:47

proposition that factual things exist

14:51

and this just doesn't mean anything to

14:54

say that a proposition

14:56

an assertion a claim is necessary or

14:59

contingent.

15:01

It's just not the kind of thing that can

15:04

be necessary or contingent. It's a

15:06

category mistake.

15:09

And u it's interesting you because this

15:11

is exactly the opposite of what we just

15:15

saw mayu

15:17

asserting regarding um contradictory

15:20

entity.

15:22

Right? Contradiction applies to ideas,

15:26

things and beliefs, not actual things.

15:30

But now it's the reverse. The necess

15:34

necessity or contingency doesn't apply

15:38

to ideas, propositions, beliefs. It only

15:40

applies to real existing things.

15:44

And this is and this is the the game.

15:47

This is the the the

15:49

semantic play that's going on here,

15:53

shifting around these meanings. So

15:55

second order facticity, which this whole

15:58

argument turns on, it's it's not real.

16:02

It's nothing. It's it's an it's an empty

16:05

abstraction.

16:08

So what about this then? Mayu could

16:10

possibly then pivot to claim that the

16:13

proposition

16:14

that factual things exist is actually a

16:17

synonym for existence

16:19

such that the claim would then be that

16:21

existence itself

16:24

is the necess the necessary/contingent

16:27

thing the necessity that is contingent.

16:31

But again, it's the same problem.

16:33

Existence is just not something that can

16:36

be contingent or necessary.

16:39

Contingency and necessity are predicates

16:42

that presuppose existence in the first

16:45

place. In order for something to be

16:48

contingent or necessary, there must be

16:52

something in the first place.

16:56

And this is

16:58

the same kind of thing that we saw

17:00

Anelm, St. Anselm arguing in the last

17:04

video when he tried to argue backwards

17:06

from the predicate perfect to the

17:09

existence of God.

17:12

Both of these

17:15

ways of arguing are perfect examples of

17:18

what happens when you start forming

17:20

arguments with abstract concepts.

17:24

And just to take a little detour here,

17:27

this is I think in general and it's

17:30

something that pervades all of Mayu's

17:33

arguments. It's what happens. It's the

17:35

danger with and and why I don't like

17:38

analytic philosophy because it takes

17:41

language concepts which are inherently

17:45

ambiguous as they must be which which is

17:49

not a bad thing in and of itself. It's

17:51

just what they are. It's how they

17:55

it's how they must be if they're to do

17:57

the job that we want them to do.

18:00

but it misuses them in all sorts of

18:04

subtle ways that seem reasonable at

18:08

first glance. That was the problem.

18:11

As we saw with the the notion of a

18:13

contradictory entity, we know what

18:14

contradictory means. We know what entity

18:16

means. So, we think if they put

18:18

together, we think there must be a

18:21

meaning there. But if you actually take

18:23

a moment to to dwell on it, you'll see

18:27

that it doesn't mean anything. What

18:29

could what could it mean to say an

18:31

entity is contradictory?

18:33

Contradiction doesn't apply to entities.

18:38

So, it takes these these concepts, puts

18:41

them together in ways that seem

18:43

reasonable at first, but in the end, if

18:46

you if you let that kind of um

18:49

method slide, in the end, you find

18:52

yourself surrounded by a whole bunch of

18:56

abstract phantoms and um illusions that

19:01

you've completely lost touch with

19:03

reality. And that's that's my number one

19:05

complaint with abstract uh with analytic

19:08

philosophy is that's what

19:11

I I find it doing all the time. It gets

19:15

lost in concepts and definitions and

19:18

meanings and and it it it equivocates on

19:22

certain things and applies concepts to

19:26

entities when it shouldn't and and

19:28

applies um predicates to concepts when

19:33

it shouldn't and just it does all of

19:35

this this um

19:38

abstract conceptual maneuvering

19:43

with concepts that that makes sense, but

19:45

in the end you've you've lost yourself

19:48

in the concepts. There's nothing. It

19:51

doesn't it it just doesn't connect back

19:53

to reality. Doesn't connect back to

19:55

anything concrete, anything meaningful.

19:59

Um, and not only that, another danger is

20:02

that you can you can

20:05

deceive yourself because you're creating

20:08

arguments out of thin air believing that

20:12

you are reasoning clearly when all

20:14

you're doing is generating fictions like

20:17

Mayasu's second order facticity.

20:21

It just doesn't mean anything. It's a

20:23

it's a it's an abstract empty

20:27

conceptual illusion.

20:30

But if you let it slide and it seems

20:32

like it might be real. It seems like it

20:34

might be talking about something and if

20:37

you let it slide then there's no hope

20:41

after that because you can never claw it

20:44

back. Once you let that initial

20:48

um semantic trick take hold

20:53

uh nothing else you can never get out of

20:55

it after that point. You've got to stop

20:57

it there.

20:59

So that's the first problem anyway, the

21:01

first part of this critique, word play

21:04

and semantics. The second part following

21:07

the framework from the last video is the

21:11

way that this argument also jumps from

21:14

thought to reality.

21:16

Remember that everything that Mayosu is

21:18

talking about here is happening in

21:20

thought. It's all abstract. It's all

21:22

conceptual. He's taking ideas, concepts,

21:26

and thoughts and trying to conclude

21:29

something about reality from them. And

21:32

this is impossible.

21:35

My point here,

21:37

as I mentioned in a comment on the last

21:39

video, it it's not that you can't think

21:42

about reality or use reason and logic to

21:48

glean certain things about reality. My

21:51

point is that something about your

21:53

thoughts, concepts, ideas themselves

21:56

cannot be reality

22:00

like a second order facticity. That

22:03

can't be metaphysical truth,

22:06

metaphysical reality. It cannot be

22:08

being. It can't be the absolute.

22:13

It It's just It's just a concept. It's a

22:16

proposition.

22:20

It's literally creating reality. Well,

22:23

it's not literally, but it is creating

22:25

reality out of thin air.

22:29

And it is literally defining a concept

22:32

into existence.

22:35

And that um is it was exactly what we

22:37

saw Anelm do with God. Masu does the

22:41

same thing, I think, with um with every

22:44

with all of this facticity, with

22:46

possibility. He's turning these

22:50

concepts into

22:53

existing things, metaphysical things.

22:59

And finally, although this is a minor

23:01

point, but just note the structure of

23:03

this argument, it's another style

23:07

argument. And that Mayus starts by

23:10

getting his opposition, the fool, to

23:13

declare their position before applying a

23:17

semantic maneuver to undermine it. He

23:20

gets the thesis first. What's your

23:22

thesis? Okay, let's take your weak

23:24

thesis and now I can

23:28

go to work on it and point out these

23:32

inconsistencies or point out in this

23:34

case find a a necessity

23:38

behind the very fact that you're making

23:41

this claim. So it it it has that same

23:44

structure that Anselm style structure.

23:47

get if you can get your opponent to to

23:50

stake their claim in a position in a in

23:53

a proposition then you can work your

23:56

semantic magic on it and um undermine

24:00

it. Okay. So that is what I have to say

24:03

about um hyper chaos and the limitations

24:06

that may tries to impose on it. Now

24:11

let's turn to the necessitarian

24:13

inference and the frequentialist

24:15

implication.

24:18

Okay. So the necessitarian inference and

24:21

the frequentialist implication the um

24:24

this is basically an objection that may

24:27

assue assumes or puts forward in order

24:30

to

24:32

knock it down and and strengthen his his

24:35

claim.

24:37

So the objection as may imagines it to

24:40

his [clears throat] principle of

24:41

factuality might go like this. If

24:44

everything were contingent as you say,

24:46

this would mean then that the physical

24:48

laws would also be contingent.

24:52

Meaning that they would be changing all

24:54

the time. And this is the frequentialist

24:57

implication.

24:59

Since this isn't what we observe,

25:02

these laws, these physical laws must be

25:05

underwritten by a necessity that rules

25:07

out disorder.

25:10

And that's the necessitarian inference.

25:14

So that's the objection. Mayor Sue gives

25:17

an argument then to refute this.

25:20

So he he's going to attack this via the

25:24

frequentialist implication.

25:26

The notion that um if everything were

25:29

contingent, the physical if the physical

25:32

laws, including the physical laws, were

25:34

also contingent, they would be changing

25:36

all the time. That's what he's going to

25:38

attack. So he says this

25:41

this um objection the frequentialist

25:45

implication is a piece of probabilistic

25:47

reasoning

25:49

which notes that there are many a priori

25:53

possible configurations of laws but only

25:56

one configuration that is constantly

25:59

experienced.

26:02

Now for probabilistic reasoning to be

26:05

valid, the total possible configuration

26:08

of laws must be thinkable in terms of a

26:12

numerical totality.

26:14

And this total totality must be larger

26:17

than the set of physically possible

26:20

events.

26:22

For example, a single throw of a die. um

26:26

there are six possibilities but there's

26:29

only one physically possible outcome and

26:32

what may is going to argue here is that

26:35

probabilistic reasoning based on this

26:38

totality which is an important idea

26:43

is valid only for events internal to the

26:47

universe so empirical not the universe

26:51

as a whole which is only conceptualized

26:55

ible

26:57

not empirical.

27:00

When we try to apply this probabilistic

27:03

reasoning which works for things within

27:06

the universe

27:08

to our conception of the universe as a

27:11

whole, we assume that it's legitimate to

27:14

consider the conceivable as a totality

27:18

in the same way that we considered the

27:21

total number of empirical possibilities

27:23

as a totality.

27:26

And the specific problem [clears throat]

27:30

for probabilistic reasoning here comes

27:33

in the form of Canour's set theory. And

27:36

this is going to get a little bit tricky

27:39

um especially if like me you're not um

27:44

well-versed in mathematics. So, Cantor

27:47

showed that mathematically there can be

27:50

actual comparable infinite sets and

27:54

[snorts] that there are therefore

27:55

degrees of infinity which can be

27:58

quantified by what he called transfinite

28:00

numbers.

28:03

More importantly for Mayu he showed that

28:05

there can be no set of all sets. In

28:09

other words, the totality of an infinite

28:12

set [snorts] can always be exceeded by a

28:15

larger one, i.e. a larger transfinite.

28:20

Um, and that's what he showed. So, Mayu

28:23

is going to use that

28:26

to

28:28

undermine this idea of the

28:30

frequentialist implication. So he takes

28:32

KTOR's proof that there can be no set of

28:35

all sets

28:37

um regarding infinite sets and applies

28:40

that to our conception of the universe

28:43

[snorts] which is specifically here a

28:47

set of possible configurations of

28:49

physical laws.

28:52

And so what I think may is getting at

28:54

here is he's saying that

28:58

um infinite sets are not subject to

29:01

empirical observation. They're therefore

29:04

only conceptualizable

29:07

and nor is the set of the universe as a

29:10

whole which we've already said is only

29:14

conceptualizable as well. Therefore,

29:17

what applies to the former infinite sets

29:20

also applies to the latter, the set of

29:23

the universe. And Mayasu glosses all of

29:27

this by saying the quantifiable totality

29:31

of the thinkable is unthinkable.

29:37

And I I think we can summarize the

29:38

argument in

29:41

with three premises and a conclusion.

29:44

So, premise one, since the universe as a

29:46

whole isn't susceptible to empirical

29:48

observation, it is therefore only

29:51

conceivable.

29:52

Premise two, probabilistic reasoning

29:55

requires a totality thinkable in terms

29:58

of a numerical totality.

30:01

Premise three,

30:03

by we can't think the totality of what

30:07

is only conceivable.

30:09

And the conclusion is therefore

30:11

probabilistic reasoning cannot apply to

30:14

the universe as a whole.

30:19

So

30:20

let's see if we can um break some of

30:23

that down. First of all, the uh

30:27

necessitarian inference. I don't I I

30:31

just don't get the argument here when um

30:37

so I kind of reject

30:40

the necessitarian inference and of

30:42

course this is an objection that Mayor

30:44

Sue has raised himself. So in rejecting

30:48

it it looks a little bit like I'm

30:49

helping him but really what I'm doing is

30:52

pointing out what I think are flaws in

30:54

his thinking.

30:56

So my problem with the necessitarian

30:58

influence is just is that just because

31:01

the laws of physics are stable doesn't

31:04

mean they're underwritten by a

31:06

necessity. That's that's the leap I

31:09

can't see here. Um just because a

31:13

certain situation holds

31:16

doesn't mean that that that situation is

31:19

necessary. Doesn't mean that it must be

31:22

the case.

31:24

So that that's the first small point a

31:27

problem with the the the necessitarian

31:29

inference itself.

31:32

Now the frequentialist implication the

31:35

problems here are a little bit more

31:36

complicated

31:38

and basically

31:40

the way I think of this is it's all a

31:45

game of mathematical semantics. So, it's

31:48

still semantic games, but this time with

31:51

with math.

31:54

Um,

31:55

yeah, because I mean, we've seen Mayasu

31:58

take abstract concepts and ideas and

32:02

twist them and and work with them and

32:05

manipulate them in such a way that he's

32:07

able to generate paradoxes or reality,

32:11

ultimately concrete metaphysical

32:14

realities out of them. Now he's doing

32:16

something similar this time with

32:17

mathematics. Specifically, he's taking

32:20

an he's taking abstract mathematical

32:22

axioms

32:25

and applying them to thought.

32:29

And that's where this whole thing goes

32:30

wrong. Everything comes back to thought.

32:32

Everything that may the the content of

32:35

all of his arguments, it's all thoughts.

32:39

It's all ideas. It's all concepts. And

32:42

it's it's kind of the same problem again

32:45

and again just

32:48

cropping up in a different in a

32:49

different kind of format.

32:53

Or rather it's the same format but

32:55

cropping up in a different with

32:57

different content. It's the same formal

32:59

problem just with different ideas.

33:03

So the best way to to go through this I

33:05

think is look at the the argument that I

33:08

laid out premise by premise. So premise

33:10

one, [snorts] since the universe as a

33:12

whole isn't susceptible to empirical

33:14

observation, it's therefore only

33:17

conceivable. We can only think of the

33:19

universe as a whole. We can't

33:23

empirically observe it or measure it or

33:26

quantify it. That's fine. I have no

33:29

problems with that. Um, I I might even

33:33

go a step further and say that it isn't

33:36

actually conceivable, but that's kind of

33:39

drifting down my own lane of

33:42

metaphysics, which is not really

33:45

relevant here. As that premise stands,

33:48

there's nothing wrong with it. Premise

33:50

two. Now, this is okay. The premise is

33:56

probabilistic reasoning requires a

33:58

totality thinkable in numerical terms

34:02

quantifiable. [clears throat]

34:04

Now this is false

34:07

um or rather

34:09

its validity is restricted to the domain

34:13

of mathematics.

34:15

So if you want to quantify or calculate

34:19

probabilities then yes I would agree

34:21

with mayasu you need a numerical

34:24

totality of the possibilities

34:27

in this case the configuration the

34:30

number of configurations of possible

34:34

laws of nature but the frequentialist

34:37

doesn't need this

34:40

um they don't need to perform a

34:42

mathematical calculation all they need

34:44

to know is that there is some massive

34:47

number of possible configurations of

34:49

physical laws which they do because this

34:52

is obviously true. That's no one's

34:55

denying that even may sue and that means

34:58

that there's nothing wrong. There's

35:00

nothing illegitimate about the

35:02

frequentialist implication.

35:04

They don't need to have a numerical

35:07

totality,

35:09

a quantifiable totality for the possible

35:12

configurations of laws. If if they were

35:15

doing if they wanted to perform some

35:17

kind of mathematical calculation, fit it

35:19

into an equation, calculate something

35:22

with it, then yes, they would need to

35:24

know that, but they don't need to know

35:26

it. So this this whole digression of

35:29

Mayus into Canour's set theory and

35:32

transfinites, it it's it's irrelevant

35:36

here. The frequentialist doesn't need to

35:40

concern themselves with any of this. We

35:43

know that there is some massive number

35:46

of possible configurations of physical

35:48

laws and we know that only one is in

35:52

evidence and that's the problem. We

35:55

don't need to quantify the

35:58

possibilities.

36:00

And then premise three by contour we

36:04

can't think the totality of what is only

36:06

conceivable.

36:09

And this is also I think false or at the

36:15

very least it's not it's an

36:17

interpretation of cantor didn't say we

36:22

can't think the totality of what is only

36:24

conceivable.

36:26

This is

36:28

like I said mayasu's interpretation or

36:30

even better his extension of canour the

36:36

transfinite and canour set theory.

36:40

It's a piece of mathematical reasoning

36:43

but it says nothing at all about limits

36:46

to conceptualization in general.

36:50

Thus our probabilistic reasoning isn't

36:54

faulty and the frequentialist

36:56

implication is again valid.

37:00

And this by the way is another example

37:03

of Mayor Sue and the the other um thing

37:08

that he does quite regularly is

37:11

transgressing domains. taking what what

37:14

works in one domain and applying it in

37:16

another domain where it doesn't work

37:18

where it's it's illegitimate there. So

37:21

for example, we've seen him go from

37:24

thought to reality. Jump from those

37:26

domains as if as if as if you can. We've

37:30

seen him jump around between

37:33

metaphysical, conceptual, and scientific

37:35

being conflating all of those different

37:38

kinds of being beings.

37:41

Um, and also the the latest one from

37:44

first order to second order facticity.

37:47

This these kinds of these jumps that

37:50

just don't respect these different

37:52

areas. Um, which [clears throat]

37:55

and you just can't apply things that

37:59

work in one area, one domain to these

38:03

other domains or or you can, but that's

38:06

my whole problem with analytic

38:07

philosophy. That's what it does. That's

38:10

that's how it secures all of these

38:12

insights that it that it that that it um

38:16

gleans

38:17

by by manipulating words and concepts

38:21

and misapplying them, misappropriating.

38:24

Um and that's that's this is just

38:26

another example of that.

38:28

So that's that's the main problem with

38:31

the frequent with Mayasu's criticism of

38:34

the frequentialist implication. This

38:36

mathematical semantics

38:39

that um I think he he indulges in a

38:42

smaller problem with this

38:45

is that Mayasu himself says that the

38:49

non-totalizing aiomatic of the

38:51

transfinite is not the only possible

38:55

aiomatic. So all he's done is show that

38:58

there is at least one way to think that

39:01

the possible is untotalizable.

39:05

And this really weakens his claim. I

39:08

think he tries to claw back some

39:12

legitimacy here by noting that reason

39:15

suggests there's no necessity to

39:17

physical laws. That's what may argued

39:20

for, but I've already argued against

39:23

that.

39:24

And he tries to also say that the

39:27

necessitarian inference results in

39:29

physical laws being necessary with no

39:32

one knowing why it is these laws rather

39:35

than others which necessarily exist.

39:39

But first, I've already argued that the

39:42

stability of the laws of physics doesn't

39:45

mean that that they're necessary. And

39:47

second,

39:49

the fact that no one knows why we have

39:51

these laws rather than others is not a

39:54

good reason for either accepting or

39:57

denying anything in relation to it. So

40:02

it's a smaller problem, but it's one

40:04

that may himself um discusses. So to his

40:08

credit, I guess he points that out, but

40:11

that seems like a bigger problem than

40:13

May Sue um lets on there.

40:17

Uh this brings me to the end of my

40:19

critique of Mayasu's um conception of

40:23

the necessitarian inference and his

40:25

defense against the frequentialist

40:27

implication.

40:29

Uh neither of which seem compelling to

40:32

me.

40:33

It also brings me to the end of the

40:35

video. So let me close out with a

40:39

summary.

40:41

So first up the limitations on hyper

40:44

chaos. This was an attempt by Mayasu to

40:47

reign in the situation

40:50

we've found it he's found himself in in

40:53

which anything can happen at any time

40:55

for no reason.

40:57

And the first limitation he imposes is

41:03

on a contradictory entity. A

41:05

contradictory entity he says is

41:06

absolutely impossible. And this is an

41:09

attempt to validate the principle of

41:11

non-contradiction.

41:14

The problem here was as we saw talk of

41:17

an of a contradictory entity is pure

41:20

sophistry. Contradiction applies to

41:23

ideas, properties, sorry, propositions,

41:26

claims,

41:28

etc. Claims about entities, not entities

41:32

themselves.

41:34

How can an entity be contradictory? It

41:38

just doesn't make sense.

41:40

And his second limitation he called the

41:44

thesis of the there is.

41:47

[clears throat]

41:48

And this says that there must be an

41:50

absolute.

41:52

Uh

41:54

and this argument then starts from the

41:57

weak thesis of the advocate against the

42:00

existence of an absolute. So if

42:03

something exists then it must be

42:05

contingent.

42:07

And Mayasu says assuming the weak thesis

42:11

presupposes a second order facticity.

42:15

So if we assume the weak the thesis this

42:19

makes the thesis itself which is a

42:21

proposition necessary and because this

42:24

proposition might or might not hold it's

42:27

contingent.

42:29

The problems I have with this first it's

42:34

this notion of second order facticity is

42:36

pure sophistry. Contingency and

42:39

necessity apply only to concrete

42:42

existence. They don't

42:45

by that I mean concretely existing

42:48

things. They don't apply to propositions

42:50

or ideas. What could it mean to say a

42:54

proposition is necessary or a

42:56

proposition is contingent? nor do they

42:59

apply to existence itself.

43:02

Contingency

43:04

or necessity presuppose an existent to

43:08

be contingent or nec necessary in the

43:10

first place.

43:12

The second problem is this whole

43:16

style of argumentation jumps from

43:18

thought to reality by turning an ab

43:22

abstract fiction which is second order

43:25

facticity into a metaphysical existent.

43:30

Then we looked at the necessitarian

43:31

inference and the frequentialist

43:33

implication.

43:35

The frequentialist implication basically

43:37

says that if everything were contingent,

43:39

we would expect to see physical laws

43:41

changing all the time. And the

43:44

necessitarian infer inference says that

43:47

since we don't see this, these physical

43:49

laws must be underwritten by a necessity

43:52

that rules out disorder.

43:54

Mayu's response probabilistic reasoning

43:58

applies to empirical objects within the

44:01

universe but doesn't apply to the

44:03

conceptualized universe itself

44:06

and mayasu uses canour's set theory and

44:09

the transfinite here

44:13

the problems that I have with this first

44:16

regarding this the necessitarian

44:18

inference the stability of the physical

44:21

laws doesn't imply their necessity I I

44:24

don't think there's no there's no

44:27

logical leap from one to the other.

44:31

And regarding the frequentialist

44:33

implication,

44:34

my first problem, my biggest problem was

44:37

the one of mathematical semantics.

44:40

So Mayasu's restriction on probabilistic

44:42

reasoning doesn't transfer to the

44:45

probabilistic intuition of the

44:47

frequentist.

44:49

And second, KTO's transfinite numbers in

44:52

relation to infinite sets don't transfer

44:55

to our conceptualized

44:58

totality of the universe.

45:02

And so that is us for this video, which

45:07

means there's only one video left. And

45:10

um it's going to be a much shorter

45:12

video. I'm just going to there's one

45:14

more thing I want to

45:17

um critique in May's philosophy and it's

45:21

regarding what he calls the task of

45:23

philosophy and then I want to close off

45:26

with some positives actually some things

45:29

that I agree with in Mayu uh even though

45:32

I don't agree with maybe the reasoning

45:36

behind how he gets to the certain things

45:40

there are some things that I think he's

45:42

he he has right that I I agree with

45:45

anyway. Um and we'll talk about those as

45:48

well. But that's it for today. Thanks

45:50

for watching. I'll see you next time.

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