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    If 'exists' had distinct senses per category, existential... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The word 'exists' is ambiguous between different senses corresponding to different ontological categories

    If 'exists' had distinct senses per category, existential quantification in formal logic would be systematically equivocal, yet it demonstrably preserves valid inference across mixed-domain statements.

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    Key Terms

    Existential quantification(in formal logic)
    A logical claim that says 'at least one thing has this property'—like saying 'someone in this room speaks French' rather than 'everyone in this room speaks French.'
    Formal logic
    A discipline that employs artificial abstract languages generally understood to address particular types of inference
    distinct senses(as used in philosophy of language)
    Different meanings or interpretations of the same word.
    exists(Russell's analysis of the predicate 'exists' in the context of negative existentials)
    Is instantiated
    mixed-domain statements(as used in logic and metaphysics)
    Statements that talk about different types of things at the same time, like combining statements about physical objects, numbers, and ideas in one argument.

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    per category(as used in metaphysics)
    For each type or group of things (like separating animals, objects, and ideas into different categories).
    systematically equivocal(as used in philosophy of language)
    When a word or concept shifts meaning in a consistent, predictable pattern throughout an argument, which can make reasoning unclear or invalid.
    valid inference(Used within informal logic's definition of a good argument)
    A conclusion that follows from the premises

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    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

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    The word 'exists' is ambiguous between different senses corresponding to differe...

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