Ontology and the theory of meaning

Philosophy of Science 21 (4):316-325 (1954)
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Abstract

In a number of essays published over the last decade or so, W. V. Quine has made some interesting suggestions concerning the ontology of theories. If I understand him correctly, one of his principal objects has been to formulate a criterion by means of which one can correctly decide what are the ontological commitments of any given theory. My aim in this paper is to reveal what I think are inadequacies in Quine's criterion and to indicate the direction in which a proper formulation lies.

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10.1086/287369

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Citations of this work

Ontological commitment.Agustín Rayo - 2007 - Philosophy Compass 2 (3):428–444.
Nominalistic systems.Rolf A. Eberle - 1970 - Dordrecht,: Reidel.
Ontological Commitment1.Agustín Rayo - 2007 - Philosophy Compass 2 (3):428-444.
Ontological Commitment and Paraphrase.Frank Jackson - 1980 - Philosophy 55 (213):303-315.

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References found in this work

Mathematical logic.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1951 - Cambridge,: Harvard University Press.
The Problem of Meaning in Linguistics.W. V. O. Quine - 1953 - In Willard Van Orman Quine (ed.), From a Logical Point of View. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 47-64.
Ontology and ideology.W. V. O. Quine - 1951 - Philosophical Studies 2 (1):11 - 15.
On what there is.W. V. O. Quine - 1948 - Review of Metaphysics 2 (5):21-38.
On Carnap’s Views on Ontology.Willard van Orman Quine - 1951 - Philosophical Studies 2 (5):65--72.

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