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    Quine's criterion holds that to be is to be the value of ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The sentence 'There are infinitely many prime numbers' can be literally true even though there are no such things as numbers.

    Quine's criterion holds that to be is to be the value of a bound variable, making existential quantification inseparable from ontological commitment.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Quantified variables in formal logic are the primary mechanism for expressing what we claim exists in our best theories.
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    • 2.Without tying ontology to quantification, we lack a principled method to identify what our theories genuinely commit us to.
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    • 3.Quine's criterion avoids arbitrary distinctions between 'real' and 'merely discussed' entities by using logical form as the arbiter.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.We can quantify over useful fictions (numbers, properties) without truly believing they exist in the same sense as physical objects.
      ?

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    • 2.Bound variables are artifacts of notation; what we're *really* committed to depends on interpretation, not syntactic form alone.
      ?

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    • 3.Quine's criterion makes ontology parasitic on language choice, yet different logical notations can formalize identical theories differently.
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    2 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Bound variables are artifacts of notation; what we're *really* committed to depe...Quantified variables in formal logic are the primary mechanism for expressing wh...Quine's criterion avoids arbitrary distinctions between 'real' and 'merely discu...Quine's criterion makes ontology parasitic on language choice, yet different log...
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    The sentence 'There are infinitely many prime numbers' can be literally true eve...We can quantify over useful fictions (numbers, properties) without truly believi...Without tying ontology to quantification, we lack a principled method to identif...

    Details

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