Single Idea 12449

[catalogued under 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / a. Ontological commitment]

Full Idea

It is widespread in contemporary metaphysics to extract commitments to various types of object on the basis of the logical form of certain sentences.

Gist of Idea

Modern metaphysics often derives ontology from the logical forms of sentences

Source

Jody Azzouni (Deflating Existential Consequence [2004], Ch.7)

Book Reference

Azzouni,Jody: 'Deflating Existential Consequence' [OUP 2004], p.148


A Reaction

I'm with Azzouni in thinking that this procedure is a very bad idea. I'm increasingly inclined towards the wild view that people are only ontologically committed to things if they explicitly say that they are so committed.