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    Carmelics

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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Paraphrase strategies can eliminate apparent reference to abstract entities while preserving the truth-conditions of such sentences.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Some statements about abstract entities (e.g., 'there are infinitely many primes') resist paraphrase into purely concrete, observable terms without loss of meaning.
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    • 2.Paraphrase strategies often smuggle in quantification over abstract entities covertly rather than genuinely eliminating them from the truth-conditions.
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    • 3.If paraphrases must preserve all truth-conditions including modal ones, the project becomes implausibly complex or impossible for many abstract-involving sentences.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Sentences about numbers (e.g., 'seven is prime') can be paraphrased into claims about physical objects or logical relationships without changing truth-conditions.
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    • 2.If paraphrase preserves truth-conditions while eliminating abstract reference, we need not posit abstract entities as real ontological commitments.
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    • 3.Nominalist science successfully explains observable phenomena without invoking abstract objects, suggesting they are not metaphysically necessary.
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