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#1
04-17-2005, 01:56 PM
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The definition of existence
"To exist is to be the value of a bound variable."
--W.V. Quine My translation: Existence is a logical operator (that is, quantification), not some property we discover in the world. Consequently, no definition is necessary, except as a formal question in logic. 
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#2
04-17-2005, 02:46 PM
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Re: The definition of existence
I post, therefore I am.
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#3
04-17-2005, 02:57 PM
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Re: The definition of existence
[ QUOTE ]
"To exist is to be the value of a bound variable." --W.V. Quine My translation: Existence is a logical operator (that is, quantification), not some property we discover in the world. Consequently, no definition is necessary, except as a formal question in logic. [/ QUOTE ] definition The first entry reads: 1. To have actual being; be real. Most people don't know the first thing about formal logic. When someone uses the word "exist," they are usually using it in the sense given above. Just like when someone says two events are "independent," they don't mean it in the sense that a probabilist does. They mean that neither event influences the other. So in this sense, existence is a property we discover in the world. For example, both tachyons and black holes are postulated by theoretical physics. We have discovered black holes. They are "real." So we know they exist. But do tachyons exist? We can only answer that definitively by discovering a tachyon.
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#6
04-17-2005, 05:45 PM
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Re: The definition of existence
You can't use a dictionary when philosophizing.
People use all sorts of logical connectors in every day language without knowing a thing about logic, and that doesn't mean those logical connectors have two separate meanings.
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#8
04-17-2005, 06:29 PM
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Re: The definition of existence
That depends on what the meaning of the word is is.
And yes, I did have sexual relations with that woman. What are you going to do about it? Impeach me? PairTheBoard
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