Abstract

The aim of the paper is twofold: i) to give a logically explicit formulation of a slight generalization of Quine's master argument about de re modality—an argument which imposes important constraints on modal semantics, ii) to briefly present my favored account of modal locutions (especially locutions of the de re metaphysical flavor) and show how it successfully copes with Quine's argument. Though Quine made this argument so many years ago, it is still widely misunderstood, and so careful attention to detail seems warranted. From what I have seen, philosophers' attitudes towards Quine's master argument fall into two kinds: i) there are those that think that the argument has no force, because it is based on some mistake (usually, something about definite descriptions), and ii) there are those that think that the argument poses some insuperable barrier to any kind of de re modality. Neither of these attitudes is justified. So, I hope to make plain along the way that a) the original version of Quine's argument is sound, b) there is a version of this same basic argument which imposes very definite constraints on any proposed account of de re "metaphysical" modality in particular, an c) there is an account that satisfies these constraints. Part 1 of the paper is concerned with laying out and discussing three versions of Quine's argument, in the service of establishing points (a) and (b). In Part 2 of the paper, I briefly sketch what I take to be a very promising, and also very Quinean account of de re modality -- one that respects the constraint on modal semantics that Quine's argument reveals and comports well with the few positive remarks Quine makes, for example, in Word and Object regarding our use of modal locutions. This will put us in a position to see that the proposed account does not fly in the face of Quine's master argument.