Posted by zeugma on December 8, 2005, at 16:36:20
In reply to existential doubts, existential quantifier, posted by zeugma on December 8, 2005, at 16:14:13
the existential quantifier is IMO canonically used in 'there' senetences, such as 'There is the planet i have been looking for' (neptune say, as uttered by leverrier).>>
no, i don't like this either. presumably leverrier would have said this with neptune is his telescope, and the TRUTH of his assertion would have rested on the proposition <Neptune, planet he was looking for>; though his utterance would have expressed the existential quantifier/description apparatus, say to his friend who did not have Neptune so positioned. the existential quantifier like the universal quantifier is needed for purposes of argument and generality, and in fact adds immensely to expressive power of language, but truth 'rests' (to speak metaphorically, and fully knowing that i havent thought this through at all) on singular or individual propositions (though no doubt the majority of such propositions are inexpressible in language anyway, hence the great utility of quantification [very unhappy with how i'm formulating this, but am writing it anyway, for whatever utterances such as this are worth]}.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:585017
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20051203/msgs/586981.html