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    A merely possible child of Portman and Bush is not distin... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Possibilism can account for the truth of claims about merely possible individuals such as a possible child of Portman and Bush.

    A merely possible child of Portman and Bush is not distinguished from infinitely many other merely possible children, making singular reference to it an illusion rather than a genuine semantic achievement.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Identity requires distinguishing features; indistinguishable items lack the basis for singular reference to one versus another.
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    • 2.Infinite qualitatively identical possibilities cannot each be the referent of 'that child'—reference requires determinate content.
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    • 3.Our intuition that we refer to specific possible children may reflect pragmatic pretense rather than genuine semantic success.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Merely possible objects need not be distinguished from alternatives to be determinate; their identity can be stipulated by description.
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    • 2.Reference to indistinguishable possible entities succeeds if anchored to properties (e.g., 'the child with DNA from X and Y').
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    • 3.Singular reference's success doesn't require the referent's uniqueness—pronouns and indexicals succeed despite non-unique satisfaction.
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    Key Terms

    Genuine semantic achievement(philosophy of language)
    When language successfully refers to or meaningfully identifies something specific in the world.
    Illusion (in this context)(metaphysics)
    Something that appears to be real or meaningful but isn't actually succeeding in doing what it seems to do.
    Merely possible(modal metaphysics)
    Something that could exist or could have happened, but doesn't actually exist in the real world right now.
    Singular reference(the main concept being explained)
    When a word or name picks out one specific thing in the world—like how the name 'Barack Obama' refers to one particular person, rather than a general category.
    semantic(describing the level of word meaning)
    Relating to the meaning of words and sentences.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Identity requires distinguishing features; indistinguishable items lack the basi...Infinite qualitatively identical possibilities cannot each be the referent of 't...Merely possible objects need not be distinguished from alternatives to be determ...Our intuition that we refer to specific possible children may reflect pragmatic ...
    +3 moreShow less
    Possibilism can account for the truth of claims about merely possible individual...Reference to indistinguishable possible entities succeeds if anchored to propert...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Singular reference's success doesn't require the referent's uniqueness—pronouns ...