Single Idea 13877

[catalogued under 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / b. Commitment of quantifiers]

Full Idea

When a class of terms functions as singular terms, and the sentences are true, then those terms genuinely refer. Being singular terms, their reference is to objects. There is no further question whether they really refer, and there are such objects.

Gist of Idea

Singular terms in true sentences must refer to objects; there is no further question about their existence

Source

Crispin Wright (Frege's Concept of Numbers as Objects [1983], 1.iii)

Book Reference

Wright,Crispin: 'Frege's Conception of Numbers' [Scots Philosophical Monographs 1983], p.14


A Reaction

This seems to be a key sentence, because this whole view is standardly called 'platonic', but it certainly isn't platonism as we know it, Jim. Ontology has become an entirely linguistic matter, but do we then have 'sakes' and 'whereaboutses'?

Related Idea

Idea 13876 The syntactic category is primary, and the ontological category is derivative [Frege, by Wright,C]