Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Hermarchus, Stewart Shapiro and Alan Turing

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3 ideas

5. Theory of Logic / G. Quantification / 4. Substitutional Quantification
We might reduce ontology by using truth of sentences and terms, instead of using objects satisfying models [Shapiro]
     Full Idea: The main role of substitutional semantics is to reduce ontology. As an alternative to model-theoretic semantics for formal languages, the idea is to replace the 'satisfaction' relation of formulas (by objects) with the 'truth' of sentences (using terms).
     From: Stewart Shapiro (Foundations without Foundationalism [1991], 9.1.4)
     A reaction: I find this very appealing, and Ruth Barcan Marcus is the person to look at. My intuition is that logic should have no ontology at all, as it is just about how inference works, not about how things are. Shapiro offers a compromise.
5. Theory of Logic / G. Quantification / 5. Second-Order Quantification
Second-order variables also range over properties, sets, relations or functions [Shapiro]
     Full Idea: Second-order variables can range over properties, sets, or relations on the items in the domain-of-discourse, or over functions from the domain itself.
     From: Stewart Shapiro (Higher-Order Logic [2001], 2.1)
5. Theory of Logic / G. Quantification / 6. Plural Quantification
Maybe plural quantifiers should be understood in terms of classes or sets [Shapiro]
     Full Idea: Maybe plural quantifiers should themselves be understood in terms of classes (or sets).
     From: Stewart Shapiro (Philosophy of Mathematics [1997], 7.4)
     A reaction: [Shapiro credits Resnik for this criticism]