Re: [jboske] Quantifiers, Existential Import, and all that stuff

[Edward Cherlin <edward@webforhumans.com>]

On Sunday 03 March 2002 20:15, Bob LeChevalier (lojbab) wrote:

> (Of course we could get into philosophical hot water if we debate
> whether "not all" = "less than all" if "all" refers to something
> that does not exist, but I'll leave that to someone else %^).

The rule I have always seen is that ~A~ is equivalent to E, so "not 
all"/~(Ax)P is the same as "for some, not"/(Ex)~P, and therefore "not 
all" entails existence. But only in a strictly logical context, not 
in English generally. Certainly we can use "not all" in a purely 
fictional context, such as "Not all Klingons are bad," without 
suggesting that Klingons exist outside of ST. (ST is *not* a possible 
world, but I'm not ready to tackle those problems yet.)

> lojbab

-- 
Edward Cherlin
edward@webforhumans.com
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