Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Existential generalization, logic: if an object that can be named, has a certain property, then there is at least one object with this property. See also universal generalization, universal instantiation._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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David Wiggins on Existential Generalization - Dictionary of Arguments
II 302 Existential Generalization/Wiggins: Modal logic Vs Existential generalization: E.g. "Cicero is necessarily a human being" as "N Cicero is a human". If we do not differentiate de re and de dicto here, then (Human(Cicero)) l- English (Ex)(Human x). (Notation: I- = provable). Because Cicero is a name with secured sense. Problem: if Cicero is a human, then there are humans. - That is, the context "---" must apply to any possible world (which is wrong). >Possible worlds, >Modal logic. Then there is something that is necessarily a human N((x)[(x = Cicero)>(x is a human)]) does not help, if the reason is the secured reference of the name, then the existence follows from the English meaning of the sentence (which is undesirable). >Reference, >Existence. Solution/Wiggins: we should distinguish de re/de dicto from the reach of "necessary" itself. >de re, >de dicto, >Necessity. II 303 Existential Generalization/EGWiggins: EG is ok for well-defined names - Existential generalization does not apply in any context of the form N (---a---) except for numbers. >Numbers, >Names._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Wiggins I D. Wiggins Essays on Identity and Substance Oxford 2016 Wiggins II David Wiggins "The De Re ’Must’: A Note on the Logical Form of Essentialist Claims" In Truth and Meaning, G. Evans/J. McDowell, Oxford 1976 |
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> Counter arguments against Wiggins
> Counter arguments in relation to Existential Generalization
