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    Quantifiers and variables have no privileged role in dete... — Carmelics
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    Home/Philosophy of Language
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    Quantifiers and variables have no privileged role in determining the ontological commitments of a theory.

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Under an entailment account, a theory T is ontologically committed to Ks if and only if T entails that Ks exist.
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    • 2.Quantifiers and variables figure into the ontological commitments of a theory only to the extent that they figure into the entailments of the theory.
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    • 3.Other components of the sentences of the theory contribute to ontological commitments in the same way as quantifiers and variables.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Quine's canonical notation thesis holds that regimentation into first-order logic with bound variables is the uniquely perspicuous medium for exposing ontological commitment.
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    • 2.Without a privileged regimentation procedure, the entailment account collapses into triviality, since any sentence can be made to 'entail' existence claims under some interpretation.
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    • 3.Quantifiers and variables in first-order logic provide a syntactically tractable and logically disciplined criterion that no purely semantic entailment account can replicate.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Melia's nominalist strategy of 'weaseling' shows that one can assert a theory and then retract its existential entailments without contradiction, undermining purely entailment-based commitment.
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    • 2.If ontological commitment tracks entailment without privileging quantificational structure, there is no principled basis for distinguishing genuine commitment from rhetorical or instrumental assertion of existence claims.
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    Related

    If ontological commitment tracks entailment without privileging quantificational...Melia's nominalist strategy of 'weaseling' shows that one can assert a theory an...Other components of the sentences of the theory contribute to ontological commit...Quantifiers and variables figure into the ontological commitments of a theory on...
    +4 moreShow less
    Quantifiers and variables in first-order logic provide a syntactically tractable...Quine's canonical notation thesis holds that regimentation into first-order logi...Under an entailment account, a theory T is ontologically committed to Ks if and ...Without a privileged regimentation procedure, the entailment account collapses i...

    Similar

    Quantifiers and variables figure into the ontological commitments of a...90%Entailment accounts of ontological commitment do not look to the value...86%Quantifier criteria hold that a theory is ontologically committed only...83%The ontological commitments of a theory are not necessarily entities w...82%

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    SEP: ontological-commitment
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    According to an entailment account of ontological commitment: A theory T is ontologically committed to Ks if and only if T entails that Ks exist. One must speak of an entailment account because different entailment relations lead to different accounts of ontological commitment; the challenge is to find the right entailment relation. But in any case, entailment accounts do not “look to the values of the variables” for the ontological commitments of a theory. Quantifiers and variables have no priv
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    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit