The objects of thought / Tim Crane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crane, Tim, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Intentionality (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

xii, 182 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Tim Crane addresses the ancient question of how it is possible to think about what does not exist. He argues that the representation of the non-existent is a pervasive feature of our thought about the world, and that to understand thought's representational power we need to understand the representation of the non-existent.

Contents:

Part I Objects

1 The Problem of Non-Existence 3

1.1 'About' 3

1.2 Relational conceptions of intentionality 8

1.3 Non-existent objects 13

1.4 Truths about the non-existent 18

1.5 Existence, being, and reality 23

1.6 Conclusion and prospectus 27

2 Existence and Quantification 28

2.1 Introduction 28

2.2 The formalization of claims about existence and non-existence 29

2.3 'Exists' as a predicate 32

2.4 Quantification in natural language 34

2.5 How to quantify over non-existents 37

2.6 Existential sentences: 'there is'/'there are' 42

2.7 Quantification, ontological commitment, and 'believing in' 47

2.8 Conclusion: the irrelevance of quantification 50

3 The Nature of Existence and Non-Existence 52

3.1 The problem posed by non-existents 52

3.2 Truth about the non-existent: the logical approach 53

3.3 Truth about the non-existent: the metaphysical approach 58

3.4 Properties and relations 64

3.5 Negative existentials 71

3.6 Do fictional characters exist? 75

3.7 Fundamentality and existence 81

3.8 Conclusion to Part 1 85

Part II Thought

4 The Structure of Intentionality 89

4.1 Introduction: non-existence and intentionality 89

4.2 Varieties of intentional object 90

4.3 Varieties of intentional content 96

4.4 Varieties of intentional mode 102

4.5 Propositionalism 108

4.6 Existing objects of thought 112

4.7 Conclusion: representation as basic 116

5 Reductionism and Psychologism 118

5.1 Introduction: truths about the non-existent and their explanation 118

5.2 The idea of reduction 122

5.3 Reductionism and the prepositional attitudes 125

5.4 The reduction of indeterminate intentional objects 131

5.5 The reduction of non-existent intentional objects 133

5.6 Conclusion: varieties of reduction 137

6 Thinking about Specific Things 138

6.1 Introduction 138

6.2 Specific thought, singular terms, and singular thought 139

6.3 Names and thought 143

6.4 Acquaintance and existence-dependence 146

6.5 De Re thought 153

6.6 Psychology and semantics again 156

6.7 Specific thoughts: a psychologistic account 158

6.8 No identity without an entity 162

6.9 Conclusion: reductionism and specific thought 167.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [170]-179) and index.

ISBN:

9780199682744

0199682747

OCLC:

865049167