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Full Idea
Plural quantification seems to offer ontological economy. We can pay the price of a mere first-order theory and then use plural quantification to get for free the corresponding monadic second-order theory, which would be an ontological bargain.
Gist of Idea
Plural quantification may allow a monadic second-order theory with first-order ontology
Source
Øystein Linnebo (Plural Quantification [2008], 4.4)
Book Ref
'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.14
A Reaction
[He mentions Hellman's modal structuralism in mathematics]
10633 | 'Some critics admire only one another' cannot be paraphrased in singular first-order [Linnebo] |
10634 | Predicates are 'distributive' or 'non-distributive'; do individuals do what the group does? [Linnebo] |
10635 | Second-order quantification and plural quantification are different [Linnebo] |
10636 | Plural plurals are unnatural and need a first-level ontology [Linnebo] |
10637 | Ordinary speakers posit objects without concern for ontology [Linnebo] |
10638 | A pure logic is wholly general, purely formal, and directly known [Linnebo] |
10639 | Plural quantification may allow a monadic second-order theory with first-order ontology [Linnebo] |
10640 | Instead of complex objects like tables, plurally quantify over mereological atoms tablewise [Linnebo] |
10641 | Traditionally we eliminate plurals by quantifying over sets [Linnebo] |
10643 | We speak of a theory's 'ideological commitments' as well as its 'ontological commitments' [Linnebo] |