more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 15420

[filed under theme 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 4. De re / De dicto modality ]

Full Idea

There is a problem over 'de re' modality (as contrasted with 'de dicto'), as in ∃x□x. What is meant by '"it is analytic that Px" is satisfied by a', given that analyticity is a notion that in the first instance applies to complete sentences?

Gist of Idea

De re modality seems to apply to objects a concept intended for sentences

Source

John P. Burgess (Philosophical Logic [2009], 3.9)

Book Ref

Burgess,John P.: 'Philosophical Logic' [Princeton 2009], p.68

A Reaction

This is Burgess's summary of one of Quine's original objections. The issue may be a distinction between whether the sentence is analytic, and what makes it analytic. The necessity of bachelors being unmarried makes that sentence analytic.

The 14 ideas with the same theme [modes of reality, or modes of statement about it]:

14641 A deduction is necessary if the major (but not the minor) premise is also necessary [Aristotle]
8481 The de dicto-de re modality distinction dates back to Abelard [Abelard, by Orenstein]
14645 To be necessarily greater than 7 is not a trait of 7, but depends on how 7 is referred to [Quine]
14975 A de dicto necessity is true in all worlds, but not necessarily of the same thing in each world [Cresswell]
14642 Expressing modality about a statement is 'de dicto'; expressing it of property-possession is 'de re' [Plantinga]
14643 'De dicto' true and 'de re' false is possible, and so is 'de dicto' false and 'de re' true [Plantinga]
14649 Can we find an appropriate 'de dicto' paraphrase for any 'de re' proposition? [Plantinga]
14652 'De re' modality is as clear as 'de dicto' modality, because they are logically equivalent [Plantinga]
16079 De re modal predicates are ambiguous [Lewis, by Rudder Baker]
14223 De dicto necessity has linguistic entities as their source, so it is a type of de re necessity [Shalkowski]
12003 De re modal formulae, unlike de dicto, are sensitive to transworld identities [Forbes,G]
15420 De re modality seems to apply to objects a concept intended for sentences [Burgess]
15175 Evaluation of de dicto modalities does not depend on the identity of its objects [Sidelle]
5732 'De re' modality is about things themselves, 'de dicto' modality is about propositions [Melia]