Single Idea 19486

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

Full Idea

Through our variables of quantification we are quite capable of committing ourselves to entities which cannot be named individually at all in the resources of our language; witness the real numbers.

Gist of Idea

We can use quantification for commitment to unnameable things like the real numbers

Source

Willard Quine (On Carnap's Views on Ontology [1951], p.205)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ways of Paradox and other essays' [Harvard 1976], p.205


A Reaction

The real numbers are uncountable, and thus cannot all be named. This is quite an impressive point. I've always had doubts about the existence of real numbers, on the grounds that they could never all be named.