Deutsche Gesellschaft
für phänomenologische Forschung

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237483

Quantification and ontology

Shaughan Lavine

pp. 1-43

Abstrakt

Quineans have taken the basic expression of ontological commitment to be an assertion of the form '∃ x φ', assimilated to theEnglish 'there is something that is a φ'. Here I take the existential quantifier to be introduced, not as an abbreviation for an expression of English, but via Tarskian semantics. I argue, contrary to the standard view, that Tarskian semantics in fact suggests a quite different picture: one in which quantification is of a substitutional type apparently first proposed by Geach. The ontological burden is borne by constant symbols, and truth is defined separately from reference.

Publication details

Published in:

(2000) Synthese 124 (1).

Seiten: 1-43

DOI: 10.1023/A:1005257423415

Referenz:

Lavine Shaughan (2000) „Quantification and ontology“. Synthese 124 (1), 1–43.