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Full Idea
When a quantifier is attached to a variable, as in '∃(y)....', then it should be read as 'There exists an individual, call it y, such that....'. One should not read it as 'There exists a y such that...', which would attach predicate to quantifier.
Gist of Idea
∃y... is read as 'There exists an individual, call it y, such that...', and not 'There exists a y such that...'
Source
William D. Hart (The Evolution of Logic [2010], 4)
Book Ref
Hart,W.D.: 'The Evolution of Logic' [CUP 2010], p.96
A Reaction
The point is to make clear that in classical logic the predicates attach to the objects, and not to some formal component like a quantifier.
16484 | There are four experiences that lead us to talk of 'some' things [Russell] |
13900 | 'Some Frenchmen are generous' is rendered by (∃x)(Fx→Gx), and not with the conditional → [Lemmon] |
13502 | ∃y... is read as 'There exists an individual, call it y, such that...', and not 'There exists a y such that...' [Hart,WD] |
13523 | Existential Generalization (or 'proof by example'): if we can say P(t), then we can say something is P [Wolf,RS] |