What Exists and the Nature of Existence
This topic asks what existence is and how to determine what there is. It addresses whether 'exists' picks out a property of individuals, is captured by the logical quantifier, or splits into several senses.
Definition
The study of existence concerns what it is for something to be, and the standards by which we settle which entities a theory or worldview accepts.
Scope
Covers the analysis of the existence predicate, the Frege-Russell quantificational account, Quine's criterion of ontological commitment, univocity versus plurality of senses of being, and the puzzle of true negative existentials.
Core questions
- Is existence a property objects have, or something the quantifier expresses?
- Is there a single univocal sense of 'exists'?
- How can 'X does not exist' be true if it seems to require X to refer?
- By what criterion do we decide what a theory is committed to?
Key concepts
- Existence predicate
- Existential quantifier
- Ontological commitment
- Negative existentials
- Univocity of being
Key theories
- Frege-Russell quantificational view
- Existence is not a first-order predicate of individuals but a second-order property expressed by the existential quantifier; to say tigers exist is to say the concept tiger is instantiated.
- Quine's criterion of commitment
- We are ontologically committed to the entities our best theories quantify over: to be is to be the value of a bound variable.
History
Kant denied that existence is a real predicate in his critique of the ontological argument. Frege and Russell formalized existence as a quantifier in the new logic. Quine made ontological commitment a matter of regimented theory, and contemporary metaontology debates whether existence is thin or thick.
Debates
- Is existence univocal?
- Quineans hold there is one sense of being captured by the quantifier; pluralists and neo-Meinongians argue different kinds of things exist in different ways.
Key figures
- Gottlob Frege
- Bertrand Russell
- W. V. O. Quine
- Immanuel Kant
- Peter van Inwagen
Related topics
Seminal works
- quine1948
- frege1884
Frequently asked questions
- Is 'exists' a predicate like 'is red'?
- On the dominant Frege-Russell view, no: existence is expressed by the quantifier rather than ascribed to an individual the way a color is. Some philosophers dissent and treat existence as a genuine property.