An Extensionalist Approach to Ontological Commitment: Why Quine is Mostly Right

<p>A criterion of ontological commitment is a formal method for determining what objects or entities a theory says exists. The most famous criterion of ontological commitment was developed by W.V.O. Quine. However, Quine's criterion has been attacked for presumably not meeting his own standards for an acceptable theory. After explaining the motivation and details of Quine's criterion, I will tum to the prominent objections against his theory. I will argue that there are problems both with Quine's formulation of his criterion, as well as the interpretation of Quine's criterion as presented by his objectors. In response to these issues, I will present my own criterion of ontological commitment. I argue that my criterion of ontological commitment meets Quine's standards for an acceptable theory, but is not subject to the prominent objections that have been used against his criterion.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy and Religion

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Suttle, William Felix, III

Contributors dc:contributor

• Paula Smithka
• Samuel Bruton
• Chris Meyers

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/525

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1605