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Single Idea 15785

[filed under theme 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / a. Ontological commitment ]

Full Idea

We must distinguish between what we are committed to existing in the actual world or a possible world ('ontology'), and what we are committed to as a part of our ways of dealing with the world conceptually, as a part of our conceptual system ('ideology').

Gist of Idea

Our commitments are to an 'ontology', but also to an 'ideology', or conceptual system

Source

Jaakko Hintikka (Semantics for Propositional Attitudes [1969], p.95), quoted by William Lycan - The Trouble with Possible Worlds 02

Book Ref

'The Possible and the Actual', ed/tr. Loux,Michael J. [Cornell 1979], p.280


A Reaction

I think this is the most illuminating idea I have read on the subject of ontological commitment. I'm fighting for the idea that what we think is true should be kept separate from what we think exists. Ideology is a nice addition to the mix.

Related Idea

Idea 15786 Commitment to possible worlds is part of our ideology, not part of our ontology [Hintikka]


The 21 ideas with the same theme [nature of existence commitments]:

Whenever there's speech it has to be about something [Plato]
For Frege, ontological questions are to be settled by reference to syntactic structures [Frege, by Wright,C]
'Existence' means that a propositional function is sometimes true [Russell]
A linguistic framework involves commitment to entities, so only commitment to the framework is in question [Carnap]
Names have no ontological commitment, because we can deny that they name anything [Quine]
General terms don't commit us ontologically, but singular terms with substitution do [Quine]
What actually exists does not, of course, depend on language [Quine]
A logically perfect language could express all truths, so all truths must be logically expressible [Quine, by Hossack]
Our commitments are to an 'ontology', but also to an 'ideology', or conceptual system [Hintikka]
The context principle for names rules out a special philosophical sense for 'existence' [Dummett]
The objects we recognise the world as containing depends on the structure of our language [Dummett]
You can reduce ontological commitment by expanding the logic [Field,H]
The identity of Pegasus with Pegasus may be true, despite the non-existence [Hale/Wright]
Ontology must include the minimum requirements for our semantics [Jacquette]
Two of the main rivals for the foundations of ontology are substances, and facts or states-of-affairs [Lowe]
Some abstractions exist despite lacking causal powers, because explanation needs them [Lowe]
Modern metaphysics often derives ontology from the logical forms of sentences [Azzouni]
We speak of a theory's 'ideological commitments' as well as its 'ontological commitments' [Linnebo]
We are committed to a 'group' of children, if they are sitting in a circle [Hossack]
Rival ontological claims can both be true, if there are analytic relationships between them [Thomasson]
We can distinguish 'ontological' from 'existential' commitment, for different kinds of being [Anderson,CA]