Overview

From the truth that Flaubert did not fly it follows logically that there was someone who did not fly. From the truth that Emma Bovary did not exist does it follow, similarly, that there was someone who did not exist? Given the fact that Cerberus is non-existent, what sort of information is it that Cerberus guards the gate of hell (and not of heaven)? The first woman to be born in the 21st century does not yet exist but is she as unreal as Emma Bovary? These and other tangled issues regarding singular or seemingly singular existence-denials, empty subject terms and fictional discourse have occupied centre-stage in philosophy since Russell, spurred on by Meinong's realism about the round-square, offered his theory of Definite Descriptions as a solution of the Platonic puzzle of non-being. This text discusses and evaluates currently offered solutions to these issues. It shows what is wrong with treating fictional names as properties and why we cannot solve the problem by distinguishing between full-blooded and nominal existence or by regarding existence-denials as talk about linguistic expressions. Portraying a plurality of language-games, the book suggests that singular existence-negations involve us in a switch of language-games. We refer to Emma Bovary inside the conventions of the relevant fiction-game and deny her existence inside the definitive game of sincere world-reportage. This switch itself is a move in the Master-game. In the final two chapters, the nature of this Master-game is clarified through a series of anticipated objections and their answers. An appendix retells, in an analytic idiom, the complicated story of the controversies in classical Indian philosophy between the Buddhist Grammarians and the Naiyayikas about statements like: ""The rabbit-horn does not exist"".

Full Product Details

Author:   A. Chakrabarti
Publisher:   Springer
Imprint:   Springer
Edition:   1997 ed.
Volume:   261
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   1.210kg
ISBN:  

9780792343882

ISBN 10:   0792343883
Pages:   260
Publication Date:   30 November 1997
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Puzzle of Singular Existence-Denials.- 1: The Scaffolding for a Solution.- 2: The Logical Form of Existence-Assertions.- 3: Singular Death-Sentences.- 4: An Enquiry into the Meaning and Truth of Fictional Discourse.- 5: Deeper Troubles with Fiction: Reference, Emotion and Indeterminacy.- 6: Appearing Unreals.- 7: The Marvel of the Master-Game.- 8: Concluding Unsemantic Postscript.- Appendix: The Problem of the Nonexistent in Indian Philosophy of Logic and Language.- § A1: The Rabbit-horn in an Ancient Indian Debate.- § A2: Primary Reality and Nominal Being: Bhartrhari’s Theory of Linguistic Constructs.- § A3: Further Vicissitudes in the Life of the Horned Rabbit: Udayana versus the Buddhists.- § A4: Does Udayana Pose a Threat to the Games Approach?.- § A5: Do Nonexistent Objects Find a Place in the “New Logic” of Absences?.- Index of Names.

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