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    Quine's criterion of ontological commitment applies only ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Expression types such as 'red' exist

    Quine's criterion of ontological commitment applies only to indispensable quantification, not merely convenient theoretical shorthand.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Ontological commitment should track genuine theoretical necessity, not linguistic convenience or notational flexibility.
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    • 2.We can reformulate many convenient quantifications (e.g., abstract objects) into nominalist paraphrases without loss of empirical content.
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    • 3.Conflating indispensable and merely convenient quantification inflates our ontology beyond what explanatory success requires.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.The distinction between 'indispensable' and 'convenient' is too vague to guide ontological commitment reliably in practice.
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    • 2.If a theory systematically requires quantification over Xs to achieve its best formulation, that constitutes indispensability regardless of intent.
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    • 3.Rejecting convenient quantifications as non-committing risks hiding real ontological assumptions in notational choices and paraphrases.
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    Connections

    2 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Conflating indispensable and merely convenient quantification inflates our ontol...Expression types such as 'red' existIf a theory systematically requires quantification over Xs to achieve its best f...Ontological commitment should track genuine theoretical necessity, not linguisti...
    +3 moreShow less
    Rejecting convenient quantifications as non-committing risks hiding real ontolog...The distinction between 'indispensable' and 'convenient' is too vague to guide o...We can reformulate many convenient quantifications (e.g., abstract objects) into...

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