Sometimes Some Things Don’t (Really) Exist: Pragmatic Meinongism and the Referential Sub-Problem of Negative Existentials
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Abstract
To solve the referential sub-problem of negative existentials one must explain why we interpret uses of, e.g., ‘Sherlock Holmes doesn’t exist’ as saying something coherent and intuitively true, even though the speaker purports to refer to something. Pragmatic Meinongism solves this problem by allowing ‘does not exist’ to be pragmatically modulated to express an inclusive sense under which it can be satisfied by something. I establish three points in defense of pragmatic Meinongism: (i) it is superior to Russell-inspired solutions; (ii) it is supported by independent evidence of pragmatic modulation; and (iii) it requires no dubious ontological commitments.
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Clapp, L. (2020). Sometimes Some Things Don’t (Really) Exist: Pragmatic Meinongism and the Referential Sub-Problem of Negative Existentials. Crítica. Revista Hispanoamericana De Filosofía, 52(154), 101–127. https://doi.org/10.22201/iifs.18704905e.2020.1176
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References
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Carston, R., 2019, “Ad Hoc Concepts, Polysemy and the Lexicon”, in K. Scott, B. Clark, and R. Carston (eds.), Relevance, Pragmatics and Interpretation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 150–162.
Carston, R., 2002, Thoughts and Utterances: the Pragmatics of Explicit Communication, Blackwell, Oxford.
Clapp, L., forthcoming, “Negative Existentials as Corrections: A Partial Solution to the Problem of Negative Existentials in Segmented Discourse Representation Theory”, Linguistics and Philosophy.
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Chalmers, D., D. Manley and R. Wasserman (eds.), 2009, Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Evans, G., 1982, The Varieties of Reference, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
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Meinong, A., 1960, “The Theory of Objects”, in R. Chisholm (ed.), I. Levi, B.D. Terrell, and R. Chisholm (trans.), Realism and the Background of Phenomenology, Ridgeview Publishing, New York, pp. 76–117.
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Parsons, T., 1980, Nonexistent Objects, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Pietroski, P., 2005, “Meaning Before Truth”, in G. Preyer and G. Peter (eds.), Contextualism in Philosophy: Knowledge, Meaning, and Truth, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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Recanati, F., 2010, Truth Conditional Pragmatics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Reimer, M., 2001, “A ‘Meinongian’ Solution to a Millian Problem”, American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 233–248.
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Sainsbury, M., 2009, Fiction and Fictionalism, Routledge, London.
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Schaffer, J., 2009, “On What Grounds What”, in D. Chalmers, D. Manley, and R. Wasserman (eds.) 2009, pp. 347–383.
Thomasson, A., 1999, Fiction and Metaphysics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Van Inwagen, P., 2003, “Existence, Ontological Commitment, and Fictional Entities”, in M. Loux, and D. Zimmerman (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Van Inwagen, P., 1977, “Creatures of Fiction”, American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 299–308.
Von Solodkoff, T., 2014, “Fictional Realism and Negative Existentials”, in M. Garcia-Carpintero and G. Marti (eds.) 2014, pp. 333–352.
Walton, K., 1990, Memesis as Make Believe, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Yablo, S., 2001, “Go Figure: A Path Through Fictionalism”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 72–102.
Yablo, S. and A. Gollois, 1998, “Does Ontology Rest on a Mistake?”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 229–262.
Zalta, E., 1988, Intensional Logic and the Metaphysics of Intentionality, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Carston, R., 2019, “Ad Hoc Concepts, Polysemy and the Lexicon”, in K. Scott, B. Clark, and R. Carston (eds.), Relevance, Pragmatics and Interpretation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 150–162.
Carston, R., 2002, Thoughts and Utterances: the Pragmatics of Explicit Communication, Blackwell, Oxford.
Clapp, L., forthcoming, “Negative Existentials as Corrections: A Partial Solution to the Problem of Negative Existentials in Segmented Discourse Representation Theory”, Linguistics and Philosophy.
Chalmers, D., 2009, “Ontological Anti-Realism”, in D. Chalmers, D. Manley and R. Wasserman 2009, pp. 77–129.
Chalmers, D., D. Manley and R. Wasserman (eds.), 2009, Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Evans, G., 1982, The Varieties of Reference, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Everett, A., 2007, “Pretense, Existence, and Fictional Objects”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 56–80.
Garcia-Carpintero, M. and G. Marti (eds.), 2014, Empty Representations: Reference and Non-existence, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Geach, P., 1967, “Intentional Identity”, Journal of Philosophy, vol. 64, no. 20, pp. 627–632.
Kaplan, D., 1989, “Demonstratives: An Essay on the Semantics, Logic, Metaphysics, and Epistemology of Demonstratives and Other Indexicals”, in J. Almog, J. Perry, and H. Wettstein (eds.) 1989, pp. 481–566.
Kripke, S., 2013, Reference and Existence, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Meinong, A., 1960, “The Theory of Objects”, in R. Chisholm (ed.), I. Levi, B.D. Terrell, and R. Chisholm (trans.), Realism and the Background of Phenomenology, Ridgeview Publishing, New York, pp. 76–117.
Miller, B., 1986, “ ‘Exists’ and Existence”, The Review of Metaphysics, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 237–270.
Moltmann, F., 2020, “Existence Predicates”, Synthese, vol. 197, pp. 311–335.
Moltmann, F., 2013, “The Semantics of Existence”, Linguistics and Philosophy, vol. 36, pp. 31–63.
Noveck, I. and N. Spotorno, 2013, “Narrowing”, in L. Goldstein (ed.), Brevity, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Parsons, T., 1980, Nonexistent Objects, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Pietroski, P., 2005, “Meaning Before Truth”, in G. Preyer and G. Peter (eds.), Contextualism in Philosophy: Knowledge, Meaning, and Truth, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Priest, G., 2005, Towards Non-Being: The Logic and Metaphysics of Intentionality, Clarendon, Oxford.
Quine, W.V.O., 1948, “On What There Is”, Review of Metaphysics, vol. 2, pp. 21–38.
Recanati, F., 2010, Truth Conditional Pragmatics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Reimer, M., 2001, “A ‘Meinongian’ Solution to a Millian Problem”, American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 233–248.
Russell, B., 1919, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, George Allen and Unwin, London.
Russell, B., 1905, “On Denoting”, Mind, vol. 14, no. 56, pp. 479–493.
Sainsbury, M., 2009, Fiction and Fictionalism, Routledge, London.
Salmon, N., 2014, “What is Existence?”, in M. Garcia-Carpintero and G. Marti (eds.) 2014, pp. 245–261.
Salmon, N., 1998, “Nonexistence”, Noûs, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 277–319.
Schaffer, J., 2009, “On What Grounds What”, in D. Chalmers, D. Manley, and R. Wasserman (eds.) 2009, pp. 347–383.
Thomasson, A., 1999, Fiction and Metaphysics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Van Inwagen, P., 2003, “Existence, Ontological Commitment, and Fictional Entities”, in M. Loux, and D. Zimmerman (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Van Inwagen, P., 1977, “Creatures of Fiction”, American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 299–308.
Von Solodkoff, T., 2014, “Fictional Realism and Negative Existentials”, in M. Garcia-Carpintero and G. Marti (eds.) 2014, pp. 333–352.
Walton, K., 1990, Memesis as Make Believe, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Yablo, S., 2001, “Go Figure: A Path Through Fictionalism”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 72–102.
Yablo, S. and A. Gollois, 1998, “Does Ontology Rest on a Mistake?”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 229–262.
Zalta, E., 1988, Intensional Logic and the Metaphysics of Intentionality, MIT Press, Cambridge.
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