back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 10921

[from 'Three Grades of Modal Involvement' by Willard Quine, in 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 2. Nature of Necessity ]

Full Idea

Three degrees necessity in logic or semantics: first and least is attaching a semantical predicate to the names of statements (as Nec '9>5'); second and more drastic attaches to statements themselves; third and gravest attaches to open sentences.

Gist of Idea

Necessity can attach to statement-names, to statements, and to open sentences

Source

Willard Quine (Three Grades of Modal Involvement [1953], p.158)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ways of Paradox and other essays' [Harvard 1976], p.158