Denying Existence The Logic, Epistemology and Pragmatics of Negative
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SYNTHESE LIBRARY STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Managing Editor: JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Boston University
Editors: DIRK VAN DALEN, University o/Utrecht. The Netherlands DONALD DAVIDSON, University o/California. Berkeley THEO A.F. KUIPERS, University o/Groningen. The Netherlands PATRICK SUPPES, Stanford University, California JAN WOLEN-SKI, Jagiellonian University. KrakOw. Poland
VOLUME 261
ARlNDAM CHAKRABARTI University of Delhi, India
DENYING EXISTENCE The Logic, Epistemology and Pragmatics of Negative Existentials and Fictional Discourse
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A c.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-4788-5 ISBN 978-94-017-1223-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-1223-1
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1997 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form Of by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permis sion from the copyright owner.
This book is dedicated to Thakur Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
xi
PREFACE INTRODUCTION: THE PUZZLE OF SINGULAR EXISTENCE-DENIALS
1
CHAPTER 1: THE SCAFFOLDING FOR A SOLUTION
9
§ § § § § § §
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Game (1): Talk About the Spatio-Temporal World Game (2): Talk in and About Fictions Game (3): Phenomena Description Game (4): Talk of Abstract Entities and Types Game* or Master-Game Noetic Structure of the Master-Game Further Reflections on the Games
CHAPTER 2: THE LOGICAL FORM OF EXISTENCE-ASSERTIONS
§ 2.01 Varieties of Contexts for the Use of the Verb "To Exist" § 2.11 Hume, Kant and the Non-Additiveness Argument § 2.12 The Argument from Referential Tautology and Referential
Contradiction § 2.13 Infelicity of "All-" and "Most-" Quantified General Existentials § 2.14 The Frege-Russell View and Quine's Argument from the § § § § § § § §
2.15 2.2 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26
Canonical Notation How Kant did not Anticipate Frege What Sort of Predication is Existence-Predication? Positive Views Speaking of Names instead of (No)things Speaking of Senses? Speaking of Offices? Of Propositional Functions or Concepts Descriptive Theories Existence as a Master-Game Property
CHAPTER 3: SINGULAR DEATH-SENTENCES
§ 3.10 Is "Exists" Equivocal? § 3.11 The Name of the Broken Tool
9 12 15 18 20 23 25 33 33 34 38 39 40 43 44 45 49 51 53 55 58 63 63 64
vii
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
§ 3.12 Back to the Future § 3.2 Frege, Geach and Dummett on ExistenceN § 3.3 Reporting Annihilation in the Predicate-Calculus § 3.4 A Fregean Paraphrase of "Arkle No Longer Exists"?
68 70 73 75
CHAPTER 4: AN ENQUIRY INTO THE MEANING AND TRUTH OF FICTIONAL DISCOURSE
81
§ 4.01 § 4.02 § 4.11 § 4.12
81 84 85
§ 4.13 § 4.14 § 4.15 § 4.2
A
