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Full Idea
We distinguish two kinds of existence questions: first, entities of a new kind within the framework; we call them 'internal questions'. Second, 'external questions', concerning the existence or reality of the system of entities as a whole.
Gist of Idea
Existence questions are 'internal' (within a framework) or 'external' (concerning the whole framework)
Source
Rudolph Carnap (Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology [1950], 2)
Book Ref
Carnap,Rudolph: 'Meaning and Necessity (2nd ed)' [Chicago 1988], p.206
A Reaction
This nicely disposes of many ontological difficulties, but at the price of labelling most external questions as meaningless, so that the internal answers have very little commitment, and the external (big) questions are now banned. Not for me.
Related Idea
Idea 12217 For ontology we need, not internal or external views, but a view from outside reality [Fine,K]
| 22979 | Three main questions seem to be whether a thing is, what it is, and what sort it is [Augustine] |
| 13933 | Existence questions are 'internal' (within a framework) or 'external' (concerning the whole framework) [Carnap] |
| 6523 | Positivists regard ontology as either meaningless or stipulated [Ayer, by Robinson,H] |
| 12210 | Quine's ontology is wrong; his question is scientific, and his answer is partly philosophical [Fine,K on Quine] |
| 12320 | Ontology is (and always has been) Cantorian mathematics [Badiou] |
| 7679 | Ontology is the same as the conceptual foundations of logic [Jacquette] |
| 12217 | For ontology we need, not internal or external views, but a view from outside reality [Fine,K] |
| 14594 | Ontologists seek existence and identity conditions, and modal and epistemic status for a thing [Swoyer] |
| 3517 | 'Ontology' means 'study of things which exist' [Maslin] |
| 4474 | Existence theories must match experience, possibility, logic and knowledge, and not be self-defeating [Moreland] |
| 13925 | Ontology disputes rest on more basic explanation disputes [Haslanger] |
| 23768 | A metaphysic is a set of wider explanations derived from a basic ontology [Williams,NE] |
| 23773 | Humeans say properties are passive, possibility is vast, laws are descriptions, causation is weak [Williams,NE] |
| 23779 | We shouldn't posit the existence of anything we have a word for [Williams,NE] |
| 23786 | The status quo is part of what exists, and so needs metaphysical explanation [Williams,NE] |