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Full Idea
A proposition about an item exists only if that item exists... how could something be the proposition that that dog is barking in circumstances in which that dog does not exist?
Gist of Idea
Propositions (such as 'that dog is barking') only exist if their items exist
Source
Timothy Williamson (Necessary Existents [2002], p.240), quoted by Trenton Merricks - Propositions
Book Ref
Merricks,Trenton: 'Propositions' [OUP 2015], p.185
A Reaction
This is a view of propositions I can't make sense of. If I'm under an illusion that there is a dog barking nearby, when there isn't one, can I not say 'that dog is barking'? If I haven't expressed a proposition, what have I done?