Does vagueness underlie the mass/count distinction?

David Liebesman

pp. 185-203

in: Synthese 193 (1), 2016.

Abstract

Does vagueness underlie the mass/count distinction? My answer is no. I motivate this answer in two ways. First, I argue against Chierchia’s (Synthese 174:99–149, 2010) recent attempt to explain the distinction in terms of vagueness. Second, I give a more general argument that no such account will succeed.