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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that The word 'exist' is not ambiguous despite having been claimed to be

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    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Ryle argued that 'exists' is systematically ambiguous across ontological categories, such that existence for universals differs categorially from existence for particulars.
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    • 2.Zeugma tests detect only gross lexical ambiguity, not the subtle categorial equivocity Ryle identified, making the absence of zeugma insufficient to refute categorial ambiguity.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Meinong's distinction between Sein and Sosein entails that 'exist' applies only to a proper subset of objects, while 'subsist' or 'have being' covers abstract and impossible objects differently.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If different modes of being require distinct logical treatment in formal ontology, the univocity of 'exist' in natural language may mask a theoretically motivated ambiguity that surface grammar underdetermines.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Conjunction reduction of sentences using 'exist' with different alleged senses (e.g., 'Toronto exists', 'Numbers exist', 'Triadic relations exist') into a single sentence does not produce zeugma
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    • 2.Absence of zeugmatic effects in conjunction-reduced sentences is evidence against ambiguity
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