TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantification and ontology
AU - Lavine, Shaughan
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2000/7
Y1 - 2000/7
N2 - Quineans have taken the basic expression of ontological commitment to be an assertion of the form '∃xφ', assimilated to the English 'there is something that is a φ'. Here I take the existential quantifier to be introduced, not as an abbreviation for an expression of English, but via Tarskian semantics. I argue, contrary to the standard view, that Tarskian semantics in fact suggests a quite different picture: one in which quantification is of a substitutional type apparently first proposed by Geach. The ontological burden is borne by constant symbols, and truth is defined separately from reference.
AB - Quineans have taken the basic expression of ontological commitment to be an assertion of the form '∃xφ', assimilated to the English 'there is something that is a φ'. Here I take the existential quantifier to be introduced, not as an abbreviation for an expression of English, but via Tarskian semantics. I argue, contrary to the standard view, that Tarskian semantics in fact suggests a quite different picture: one in which quantification is of a substitutional type apparently first proposed by Geach. The ontological burden is borne by constant symbols, and truth is defined separately from reference.
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U2 - 10.1023/a:1005257423415
DO - 10.1023/a:1005257423415
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33746150889
VL - 124
SP - 1
EP - 43
JO - Synthese
JF - Synthese
SN - 0039-7857
IS - 1
ER -