Abstract
Thomas Hofweber’s well-known ontological project crucially involves inferring negative existential statements from statements of non-reference, i.e. statements that say that some term or terms do not refer. Here, after explaining the context of this move, I aim to show that it is fallacious, and that this vitiates Hofweber’s ontological project.
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References
Haze, T. (2011). A Note on Hofweber's Distinction between Internal and External Quantification. http://sprachlogik.blogspot.com/2011/03/note-on-hofwebers-distinction-between.html. Accessed 17 June 2015.
Hofweber, T. (2009). ‘Ambitious, yet modest, metaphysics’, in David John Chalmers, David Manley & Ryan Wasserman (eds.), Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology. Oxford University Press.
Background reading for Hofweber’s project
Hofweber, T. (2005a). Number determiners, numbers, and arithmetic. The Philosophical Review, 114, 2.
Hofweber, T. (2005b). A puzzle about ontology. Noûs, 39, 2.
Hofweber, T. (2007). ‘Innocent Statements and their Metaphysically Loaded Counterparts’, Philosophers’ Imprint 7:1, <www.philosophersimprint.org/007001/>.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to an anonymous referee for a helpful suggestion and a correction, to N.J.J. Smith for some strategic advice, and to Thomas Hofweber for discussion.
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Haze, T. A Problem for Hofweber’s Ontological Project. Philosophia 43, 843–846 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-015-9609-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-015-9609-3