more from Willard Quine

Single Idea 10295

[catalogued under 8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 12. Denial of Properties]

Full Idea

Quine doubts the existence of properties, and, trying to be helpful, suggests that variables ranging over properties be replaced with variables ranging over respectable extensional entities like sets, so we can 'identify' a property with a singleton set.

Gist of Idea

Quine suggests that properties can be replaced with extensional entities like sets

Source

report of Willard Quine (works [1961]) by Stewart Shapiro - Higher-Order Logic 2.1

Book Reference

'Blackwell Guide to Philosophical Logic', ed/tr. Goble,Lou [Blackwell 2001], p.36


A Reaction

This strikes me as a classic modern heresy, a slippery slope that loses all grip on what a property is, replacing it with entities that mean nothing, but make the logic work.