Quine's criterion of ontological commitment implies that if our best physical and mathematical theories treat the classes as distinct, we are justified in asserting their separation.

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

No one has weighed in yet. Be the first to share reasons for or against this statement.

Classes (in logic and mathematics)(whether classes are distinct and real): Groups or collections of things organized by shared properties. For example, 'all red objects' would be one class. In philosophy, the question is whether these groupings are real things that exist or just useful ideas.
Ontology(Carnap argues this enterprise is based on a mistake): The philosophical discipline that tries to answer hard questions about what there really is.
Quine(as a proper name referring to the philosopher whose theory is being discussed): Willard Van Orman Quine was a 20th-century American philosopher who wrote about how we know things and how language works. In this statement, we're discussing one of his specific ideas about observation.
criterion(as used in philosophy to describe a test for whether an idea works): A standard or rule used to decide whether something counts as true or valid.

Based on where you are in your exploration