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Full Idea
Plurality is a semantical but not also an ontological construction.
Gist of Idea
Plurals are semantical but not ontological
Source
Henry Laycock (Words without Objects [2006], Intro 4)
Book Ref
Laycock,Henry: 'Words without Objects' [OUP 2006], p.15
A Reaction
I love it when philososphers make simple and illuminating remarks like this. You could read 500 pages of technical verbiage about plural reference without grasping that this is the underlying issue. Sounds right to me.
| 12794 | Plurals are semantical but not ontological [Laycock] |
| 17694 | Some non-count nouns can be used for counting, as in 'several wines' or 'fewer cheeses' [Laycock] |
| 17695 | Some apparent non-count words can take plural forms, such as 'snows' or 'waters' [Laycock] |
| 17696 | 'Humility is a virtue' has an abstract noun, but 'water is a liquid' has a generic concrete noun [Laycock] |
| 12791 | It is said that proper reference is our intellectual link with the world [Laycock] |
| 12792 | The category of stuff does not suit reference [Laycock] |
| 12818 | We shouldn't think some water retains its identity when it is mixed with air [Laycock] |
| 12795 | Parts must be of the same very general type as the wholes [Laycock] |
| 12797 | If plural variables have 'some values', then non-count variables have 'some value' [Laycock] |
| 12799 | Descriptions of stuff are neither singular aggregates nor plural collections [Laycock] |