Single Idea 19001

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / e. Empty names]

Full Idea

'Pegasus does not exist' has a paradoxical, self-undermining flavour. On the one hand, the empty name makes it untrue. But now, why is the name empty? Because Pegasus does not exist. 'Pegasus does not exist' is untrue because Pegasus does not exist.

Gist of Idea

'Pegasus doesn't exist' is false without Pegasus, yet the absence of Pegasus is its truthmaker

Source

Stephen Yablo (Aboutness [2014], 05.7 n20)

Book Reference

Yablo,Stephen: 'Aboutness' [Princeton 2014], p.87


A Reaction

Beautiful! This is Yablo's reward for continuing to ask 'why?' after everyone else has stopped in bewilderment at the tricky phenomenon.