more from Willard Quine

Single Idea 8459

[catalogued under 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / d. Commitment of theories]

Full Idea

In fiction, 'Once upon a time there was an F who...' obviously does not make an ontological commitment, so Quine says the question of which ontology we accept must be dealt with in terms of the role an ontology plays in a scientific worldview.

Gist of Idea

Fictional quantification has no ontology, so we study ontology through scientific theories

Source

report of Willard Quine (On What There Is [1948]) by Alex Orenstein - W.V. Quine Ch.3

Book Reference

Orenstein,Alex: 'W.V. Quine' [Princeton 2002], p.47


A Reaction

This seems to invite questions about the ontology of people who don't espouse a scientific worldview. If your understanding of the outside world and of the past is created for you by storytellers, you won't be a Quinean.