Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Unconscious Cerebral Initiative', 'The Art of the Infinite' and 'Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology'

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7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 4. Abstract Existence

8960	Internal questions about abstractions are trivial, and external ones deeply problematic [Carnap, by Szabó]
	Full Idea: Carnap's verdict is that questions regarding the existence of abstracta tend to be trivial when taken as internal and deeply problematic when taken as external.
	From: report of Rudolph Carnap (Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology [1950]) by Zoltán Gendler Szabó - Nominalism 6
	A reaction: If the internal aspect of the problem is 'trivial', this would put Carnap in league with fictionalists, who are only committed to entities while playing the current game. What is the status of the theory? Carnap wanted flowers to bloom.