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Single Idea 12798

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / G. Quantification / 6. Plural Quantification ]

Full Idea

By certain standardizations of phrasing the contexts that call for plurals can in principle be paraphrased away altogether.

Gist of Idea

Plurals can in principle be paraphrased away altogether

Source

Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §19)

Book Ref

Quine,Willard: 'Word and Object' [MIT 1969], p.90

A Reaction

Laycock, who quotes this, calls it 'unduly optimistic', but I presume that it was the standard view of plural reference until Boolos raised the subject.

The 24 ideas with the same theme [quantifiers pick out collections, not just 'one+' or 'all']:

14236 Each horse doesn't fall under the concept 'horse that draws the carriage', because all four are needed [Oliver/Smiley on Frege]
12798 Plurals can in principle be paraphrased away altogether [Quine]
14235 Saying 'they can become a set' is a tautology, because reference to 'they' implies a collection [Cargile]
10267 We should understand second-order existential quantifiers as plural quantifiers [Boolos, by Shapiro]
10698 Plural forms have no more ontological commitment than to first-order objects [Boolos]
15731 Quantification sometimes commits to 'sets', but sometimes just to pluralities (or 'classes') [Lewis]
15518 I like plural quantification, but am not convinced of its connection with second-order logic [Lewis]
15525 Plural quantification lacks a complete axiom system [Lewis]
10268 Maybe plural quantifiers should be understood in terms of classes or sets [Shapiro]
12845 Some natural languages don't distinguish between singular and plural [Simons]
10635 Second-order quantification and plural quantification are different [Linnebo]
10636 Plural plurals are unnatural and need a first-level ontology [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]
10778 Can second-order logic be ontologically first-order, with all the benefits of second-order? [Linnebo]
10783 Plural quantification depends too heavily on combinatorial and set-theoretic considerations [Linnebo]
14234 If you only refer to objects one at a time, you need sets in order to refer to a plurality [Oliver/Smiley]
14237 We can use plural language to refer to the set theory domain, to avoid calling it a 'set' [Oliver/Smiley]
12794 Plurals are semantical but not ontological [Laycock]
10666 Plural reference will refer to complex facts without postulating complex things [Hossack]
10669 Plural reference is just an abbreviation when properties are distributive, but not otherwise [Hossack]
10675 A plural comprehension principle says there are some things one of which meets some condition [Hossack]
14232 We normally formalise 'There are Fs' with singular quantification and predication, but this may be wrong [Liggins]