Existential Presuppositions and Existential Commitments

Jaako Hintikka

The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 56, No. 3, Scandinavian Number. (Jan. 29, 1959), pp. 125-137.

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 O X LAMr AND MORALS 126

about anything at all. The theory of value nihilism thus does not
put any restriction on the number of things we can know anything
about; it simply says that certain sentences (statements) cannot
express any knowledge about anything-and that is an essential
difference. With this assertion the theory of value nihilism pre-
tends to have stated a fact about a certain aspect of those phe-
nomena (things) which we call valuations. There is no special
"concept of science" at the back of a statement of this sort. I n
itself the theory of value nihilism does not presuppose any gen-
eral theory about the relationship between positivism and idealism
or between scientific and humanistic "method1'-to mention only a
couple of the more notorious and sweeping philosophical perspec-
tives. I t simply is a special scientific theo1.y which is concerned
with a certain restricted class of facts.

EXISTENTIiZL PRESUPPOSITIONS AND

EXISTENTIAL COMMITMENTS

P HILOSOPHERS of logic have often been unhappy about

singular terms that fail to refer. I n the last few decades,
more pages have probably been devoted to t,he problems caused by
t,he failure of the present King of France to exist than to any other
subject in the philosophy of logic, unless it is the identity of the
Morning Star. Much of this discussion has been provoked by
Russell's theory of definite descriptions, which was calculated to
explain why an empty description like 'the present King of France'
can be used to form meaningful statements. Prima facie, Russell's
theory serves its purpose well; it enables us to paraphrase all the
apparent references to a missing individual by a description like
'the King of France' in terms of quantijers like 'somebody', i.e.,
in terms of words which are formulated in logic by means of bound
variables and which certainly refer only to actual objects or persons.
Descriptions, however, are not the only singular terms that
logically minded philosophers have been worrying about. There are
names like 'Pegasus' which do not refer to anything; there are
names like 'Homer' and 'Atlantis' of which we do not know for
sure whether they refer to anything; and recently Professor Prior
1 I am indebted to Professor W. V. Quine for his constructive criticism of an
early version of this paper and to Professor G. H. von Wright for his comments
on the same version. For the suggestions and comments that prompted the
present version my thanks are due to Professor Burton S. Dreben. The mistakes,
of course, are mine.
126 T H E JOURNAL OP PHILOSOPHY

has called our attention to the logical peculiarities of names like

'Bucephalus' which once had a bearer but which do not have one
any 10nger.~ For an adherent of Russell's theory, the natural way
of treating them is to extend the same strategy further. When a
name has no bearer one is tempted to say that it is not a genuine
name a t all but rather a hidden description; for this seems to explain
why it can be used in significant sentences in spite of being empty.
And once this step is taken, there is scarcely any way of refusing
to take the next one and to declare that all the names that are
not known with absolute certainty to have a bearer are also not
genuine names. We know that Russell went out all the way in this
direction. According to him, "The names that we commonly use,
like 'Socrates', are really abbreviations for descriptions"; in fact,
"the only words one does use as names are words like 'this' and
'that1."
Here, one feels, something has gone amiss. Kot oilly is it strange
to call 'this' and 'that' names; it seems positively perverse to allege
that they are our only proper names properly so called. No
wonder that Russell's theories of descriptions and of names have
drawn spirited rejoinders both from professional linguists and from
philosophers whose main allegiance is to ordinary l a n g ~ a g e . ~
However, it is not quite easy to put one's finger on the root of the
trouble. I t is oftensaid that Russell confuses meaning and reference;
and this is certainly part of the truth. According to Russell, a
name designates directly ('an individual which is its meaning."
For this reason, a name without reference cannot have a meaning.
However, Russell's identification of the meaning of a name with
the bearer of the name is simply a mistake. Such as our language
happens to be, it is not even a part of the meaning of a proper
name that it refers to something or somebody. I t always makes
sense to ask: "Does (did) N.N. really exist?" There is no logical
error in denying, seriously or otherwise, that Homer or Napoleon
ever existed while retaining the name 'Homer' or 'Napoleon', as
the case may be. In fact, one of the books devoted to 'proving'
that there never was such a person as Napoleon was written by
the well-known nineteenth-century logician, Richard Whateley.
Such pseudonyms as 'N. Bourbaki' (under which a number of
French mathematicians publish their joint efforts) are admittedly
A. N. Prior, T i m e and Modality (Oxford, 1957), pp. 32-33.
3Bertrand Russell, Logic and Knowledge, Essays 1901-1950 (ed. by R. C.
Marsh, London, 1956), pp. 200-201.
4 As for the linguists, see Alan Gardiner, The Theory of Proper Names (2nd ed.,
Oxford, 1954); as for the ordinary language philosophers, see P . F . Strawson,
"On Referring," Mind, n.s., Vol. 59 (1950), reprinted in Essays i n Conceptual
Analysis (ed. by Antony Flew, London, 1956), pp. 21-52.
6 Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Phrlosophy (London, 1919),
p. 174.
 EXISTEATTIAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 127

parasitic on proper names proper. But the fact that their use has a
point a t all, and the very real possibility of being misled by such
noms de guerre, suggest an important moral about ordinary names:
The criteria by means of which we recognize an expression as being
a proper name do not involve ascertaining that there is a unique
person (or object) to which it refers. Otherwise, it would be a
logical and not merely a factual mistake to be deceived by a pseu-
donym. The pecularity of 'Bourbaki' will not lead us to repudiate
its namehood. Even empty names are still called names; if we are
to define their status, we are likely to use some phrase not unlike
Cudworth's to the effect that they are 'mere names without any
signification' (or, as we should rather say, without any reference).
There is nothing so sacred about the idea of a name that one could
not conceivably drop the assumption that it refers to something.
I would go as far as to hold that a formal reconstruction of the logic
of our language in which this cannot be done without breaking the
rules of the game just is not comprehensive and flexible enough.
(Thc main purpose of this paper is to improve on the existing
systems in this respect.) Of course, we are often likely to drop a
name altogether if it turns out to be empty. But this is because
there is usually very little to be said about what there is not, and
not because an empty name is a logical misnomer.
But Russell's mistake may be deeper than the confusion of
meaning and reference. At the bottom of his difficulties, there
seems to lie a misconception concerning the ways in which our
language actually operates (or should one perhaps rather say, 'is
operated'?). He wants to put us in the position of an Adam to
whom the beasts come for the first time and who names them as
he sees them.6 This is but a linguistic analogue to the Cartesian
idea of complete doubt whose futility has been exposed by Peirce
and others. I t is perhaps appropriate to observe that the only
purpose for which an Adam without previous experience and
without other people to communicate with can use language is for
recording and reproducing what he experiences. Russell's 'logical
Adamism' therefore smacks of the descriptive fallacy.' As long as
the sole function of our sentences is to describe objects, the failure of
an object to exist seems to rob the sentence of its content; for it
leaves nothing to be described. In contrast, a prediction, a guess, or
an assumption may serve a purpose even when one of its singular
terms fails to refer to anything. '(Suppose there is a King of
France" is not only meaningful although France is not a monarchy;
its primary uses are in contexts in which it is known that there is no
See Logic and Knowledge, p. 201.
' The term 'descriptive' here serves to isolate one of the cognitive uses of
language. I t is not used as a correlative, e.g., to 'prescriptive'.
128 T H E JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

contemporary King of France or in which it is not known whether

there is one. Once we recognize other uses of language besides the
descriptive one, the temptation to resort to Russell's theory is
reduced.
These observations show that the meaningfulness and the logi-
cal status of names and of other singular terms is not affected by
their failure to refer. Sentences containing empty names or other
singular terms which fail to refer were seen to have significant
roles to play in our discourse; hence their meaningfulness is not
the problem Russell took it to be. Whether his theory is correct
or not, one of the main purposes it was supposed to serve is therefore
spurious. Hence one may ask whether there are better reasons for
the philosophical logicians to occupy themselves with empty terms
in general and with the theory of descriptions in particular.
In fact, the discussion of Russell's theory has other sources than
the theory itself. A good deal of recent interest in the theory is due
to its possible uses in defending a criterion of existential (or 'onto-
logical') commitnzent proposed by Q u i i ~ e . ~If it is allowable, in
theory, to replace a name by a description which can then be
paraphrased, in context, in terms of bound variables, we are entitled
to use the name irrespective of whether there exists anything which
it is the name of. And if this course is open for every singular term,
no use of such terms commits one to an existential assumption.
The only things one has to assume to exist are the values of bound
variables. For it was in terms of such variables that the descrip-
tions were eliminated. Hence the highly important thesis that the
only way of making existential commitments is by using bound
variables. "To be is to be a value of a bound variable." This I
shall call Quine's thesis, in short QT.
However, Russell's theory of descriptions is a poor way of
defending Quine's thesis, for the simple reason that Russell's
theory is not an accurate representation of the logic of ordinary
language (if any).g This need not worry Quine, however, as long
as he is not claiming that he is reproducing all the features of the
expressions of ordinary language. In fact, he seems to doubt
whether the notion of an ontological commitment makes much
sense unless we are already using the quantificational mode of
discourse in which all reference to individuals is narrowed down to
the bound variables of quantification. I n any case, he does not
W. V. Quine, From a Logical Point of View (Cambridge, Mass., 1053), pp.
5-14, 103-107, and 130-131.
9 This does not follow from what has been said above. What I have argued is
that.one of the main problems Russell's theory was calculated to deal Gith is
spurious. Some of the flaws of the actual theory are pointed out in Strawson,
op. cit., and in P. T . Geach, "Russell's Theory of Descriptions," Analysis, Vol. 10
(1950), reprinted in P\tilosoph?j and Analysis (ed. by Margaret MacDonald,
Oxford, 1954), pp. 32-36.
 E X I S T E N T I A L PREXUPPOSITIONS 129

want to tie his thesis to Russell's theory. This raises the problem
whether the two are really independent; whether QT can hold
even where Russell's theory fails. I n the sequel I shall suggest
an affirmative answer.
Anticipating this answer, one may wonder why the theory of
descriptions was brought to bear on QT in the first place. As the
theory is strongly suspect, it is not worth resorting to. And I
shall argue that there is not even any need of doing so : the elimina-
tion of singular terms other than variables is not a prerequisite of
QT, under one natural interpretation of the thesis. This leaves us
a t a loss in our search for valid reasons for the queasiness of logically
minded philosophers about empty singular terms.
One important reason ought, it seems to me, to stare everyone in
the face who takes a good look a t some formal system of quantifica-
tion theory. I n order to enable the reader to have one, I shall
presently give a set of rules for this part of logic which are tailored
to fit my special purposes. The main peculiarity of this set of rules
is the sharp separation of free and bound variables, the rationale
for which will appear later. The rules are in terms of a dyadic
metalogical relation which is called the relation of equivalence and
expressed by '-'. This relation is assumed to be transitive, and
equivalent expressions are assumed to be replaceable irrespective
of the context (salva equivalence). In referring to arbitrary
formulae or to expressions which are like formulae except for
containing bound variables in the place of free ones,1° I shall use
the letters 'f','g', . . . . In referring to free individual variables,
the letters 'a', 'b', . . . are used; in referring to bound individual
variables, the letters 'x', 'y', . . . if(a/x)' will be used to refer to
the result of replacing x everywhere by a in f ; and similarly for
other variables. Iff tt (f & g), I shall also express this by if- g'.
Strictly speaking, everything written on either side of 'tt' or '4'
as well as every expression that contains 'f', 'x', or 'a' ought to be
placed in Quine's quasi-quotes ('corners').ll For simplicity, how-
ever, I shall usually omit them. Taking propositional logic for
granted, the rules may be formulated as follows:
(1) Formulae which are taut~ologically equivalent by the
propositional calculus are equivalent provided that they
contain occurrences of exactly the same free variables, and
so are expressions obtained from them by replacing one or
more free individual variables by bound ones.
lo I shall restrict the term 'formula' to expressions in which all bound variables
are actually bound to some quantifier. In other respects, any usual definition
of a formula serves my purposes.
l1 See \V. V. Quine, A~fathenzatzcal Loqlc (revised ed., Cambridge, Atass., 1951),
$6.
130 T H E JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

(2) (a) f (Y/x) -+(3xlf.

(2) (b) f (a/x) + (3x)f.
(3) If g does not contain x, then (32) (f & g) tt ((3x)f & g).
(4) (a) If x occurs in f, f --t x = x.
(4) (b) If a occurs in f, f --t a = a.
(5) (a) x = Y &f(ylx) +f.
(5) (b) x = a & f(a/x) -+f.
(5) (c) a = b & f (b/a) -+f.
The system of rules (1)-(5) is complete in the sense that f is
provable in the usual systems if and only iff ++ (f V -f).12 (The
completeness is not demonstrated here.) The rules (2)-(3) cover
the 'pure' quantification theory (without identity); the rules
(4)- ( 5 ) cater to identity (of individuals).
Here one may feel entitled to expect that every decent name can
be substituted for a free individual variabli: without imperiling
the validity of the rules (1)-(5). However, this legitimate expectation
will not be fulfilled. In most rules we can indeed replace free
individual variables by names and other singular terms of ordinary
language. But an important exception is constituted by the rule
(2) (b) which is known as the rule of existential generalization (as
applied to free variables). I t was pointed out by Quine a long time
ago13 that the existence of an entity to which a term t refers is a
necessary and sufficient condition for the success of existential
generalization as applied to t. (This is the starting-point and, as
we shall see, the gist of QT.) I t follows that empty terms cannot
be substituted for a in (2) (b). Since my system is not different
in this respect from the others, it is seen that one cannot apply the
usual logic of quantification to empty names and other empty
singular terms without some special explanation, notwithstanding
the fact that they were seen to be legitimate and useful constituents
of our discourse. In this sense there are existential presuppositions
embodied in the usual systems of quantification theory. These
presuppositions go far toward explaining the uneasiness of the
logicians about empty terms: they have to be explained away before
the logicians are able to apply their formal considerations to ordinary
discourse. They also help to understand the temptation to resort
to Russell's theory. For the applied logician is seen to face a
dilemma: he has either (i) to explain away the delinquent names

2' Strictly speaking, this holds only for systems in which formulae whose
negations are satisfiable in the empty domain of individuals are not provable.
Cf.W. V. Quine, "Quantification and the empty domain," Journal of Symbolic
Logic,Vol. 19 (1954), pp. 177-179. This divergence is immaterial, however.
'3 "Designation and Existence," this JOURXAL, Vol. 36 (193'3), pp. 701-709
especially p. 705.
 E X I S T E N T I A L PRESUPPOSITIONS 131

and other singular terms in terms of bound variables which do obey

the rule of existential generalization (witness (2) (a)); or else
(ii) to modify the rules of quantification theory. All the forces of
conservatism favor the first horn, which is just the one taken by
Russell's theory.
The failure of this theory may seem a reason for the ordinary
language philosophers to congratulate themselves. Have they not
held that our ordinary discourse is too unpredictable and too
dependent on context to admit of direct applications of formal logic?
However, if they should take this line in the particular case under
discussion, they would be too charitable to the poor formal logician
and far too pessimistic concerning the potentialities of his subject
matter; for then the logician could defend himself by claiming that
he is still doing the best of a bad job. But this defense is not
acceptable as long as the second horn (ii) of the applied logician's
dilemma remains unexplored. I shall argue that the failure of
Russell's theory is not just due to the general fuzziness and un-
predictability of ordinary discourse, but that there are genuine
alternatives both of which are amenable to exact formulation.
Before embarking on the argument, it may be pointed out in
passing that we can now see the real relation of Russell's theory of
descriptions to Quine's thesis. Russell's theory is not so much a
way of :defending QT as a method of reconciling names and descrip-
tions that are flunked by Quine's standard of ontological commit-
ment with the current formulations of quantification theory.
Hence, our repudiation of Russell's theory does not imply a rejection
of Q T ; we can equally well try to modify the rules for quantification
theory.
The probable reazon why this has not been attempted before is
that such an enterprise may be feared to give rise to a system in
which the virtues of the ordinary formulations of quantification
theory are lost, e.g., in which the transformation rules are more
conlplicated than usual. However, these fears can be shown to be
idle. I t is easily seen that the only rule in the system (1)-(5)
whose applicability depends on the success of names is the rule
(2) (b) of existential generalization. Its failure shows that we have
to subject free and bound variables to different rules, for (2) (a)
continues to hold. (This is the reason why I have sharply distin-
guished free and bound variables.) Omitting the rule (2) (b), we
obtain a system of quantification theory witl~outexistential presupposi-
tions which is applicable to singular terms which fail t,o refer.
Since this system is obtained simply by omitting one of the old
rules, it is more elegant than the traditional quantification theory
in the philosophically relevant sense in which the merits of a system
132 T H E JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

are measured by the paucity of its basic assumptions. The rules

that govern the behavior of purported names which do name are
obtained, we shall shortly see, as derived rules that depend on the
presence of suitable contingent premises. These premises are the
formal counterparts of such forms of words as 'a exists'. This
economy more than compensates, to my mind, for the use of two
kinds of individual variables. In fact, there is in principle no need
to recognize free individual variables as an independent category;
they may be looked upon as place-holders for singular terms whose
logical behavior they serve to exhibit.
I n spite of its economy, our "quantification theory without
existential presuppositions" may serve all the same purposes as
the traditional quantification theory. From the rules (1)-(5) it is
seen that, in the latter, free and bound variables are traditionally
subject to the same rules. This enables one to treat them uniformly,
in effect, to deal exclusively with bound variables and closed
formulae. I n the logic without existential presuppositions, bound
individual variables still obey exactly the same logical laws as
before. As far as formulae without free individual variables are
concerned, the new logic is therefore equivalent to the old one.
On the other hand, it is demonstrably weaker as regards formulae
which contain free individual variables. This amounts to showing
that the rule (2) (b) is independent of the other rules (1)-(5). A
proof to this effect may be carried out as follows: Let us assign the
truth-value 'true' to all atomic formulae and identities that contain
free variables only. Let us suppose that the propositional connec-
tives obey their usual truth-tables, that every formula beginning
with an existential quantifier is false and that every formula begin-
ning with a universal quantifier is true. I t is easy to see that these
conventions assign a unique truth-value to every formula in which
all the bound variables are actually bound to some quantifier. It
is also easy to see that all the rules (1)-(5) except (2) (b) preserve
this truth-value. (In the case of (2) (b) the reason is that this
rule can only be used to carry out transformations within the scope
of a quantifier. The truth-value of the whole formula which begins
with the quantifier remains intact.) I n contrast, (2) (b) fails, e.g.,
when f(a/z) is atomic. Hence, (2) (b) is independent of the other
rules, i.e., my quantification theory which dispenses with existential
presuppositions is weaker than the traditional one.
Apart from its intrinsic merits (and, possibly, demerits) my
reformulation of quantification theory opens new possibilities of
sharpening issues and arguments in the philosophy of logic. Quine's
thesis is a case in point. According to the thesis, "a exists" is to
be explicated by "a is a value of a bound variable." I n the tradi-
 EXISTENTIAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 133

tional quantification theory, there are no suitable equivalents for

either phrase; the prima facie candidates all turn out to be either
trivially true or contradictory. I n the modified quantification
theory, in contrast, such phrases as "a is a value of a bound variable"
find excellent counterparts in the formulae (32) (2 = a). For
what such a formula says is just that the individual referred to by
a is identical with one of the values of the bound variable x.
Quine's thesis may therefore be taken to mean that such formulae
as (3x)(x = a) bring out the logical difference between what
there is and what there is not. Of course, this may not be equivalent
to some of Quine's own formulations of QT. But it is sufficiently
close to them to justify our interpreting it as a way of carrying out
his intentions. I n particular, it is strikingly close to the adage,
"To be is to be a value of a bound variable."
The question whether QT is valid or not therefore turns on the
question whether the presence of the formula (3x)(2 = a) con-
stitutes a guarantee that a behaves like a 'full' name with reference.
(Sotice that the converse relation certainly holds: if a behaves like
a name with reference, then the formula (32)(x = a) can be
considered as true and hence conjoined with any formula.) I t was
already pointed out above that the only rule of quantification theory
that brings out the difference between empty and 'full' names is
the rule (2) (b) of existential generalization. Hence, what one has
to do in order to argue for Quine's thesis is to show that the presence
of the formula (35) (x = a) authorizes one to generalize existentially
with respect to a. In other words, one has to prove the following
relation (without using (2) (b), of course) :
(6) (32) (x =a) & f (a/x) + (3x)j.
For this purpose, I shall first prove a few preliminary lemmata.
First, the relation expressed by '+' is transitive :
(7) I f f - g a n d g - + h , t h e n j - h .

Hence by the transitivity of 't.'j,+ h.

-
Proof: j t. (by the first hypothesis) ( j & g) t.(by the second hyp.)
(f & (g 8: h ) ) * (by (1)) ((f $ 9) & h) (by the first hyp.1 (f 8: h).

Second, one can interchange bound variables :

Proof : (3y)f (ylx) -

(8) If y does not occur in j, ( 3 y ) j(y/x) -+ (3x)f.
(by ( 2 ) (a)) ( 3 ~(f) (ylz) & (3xlf) (by (3))
(3y)j(y/x) & (3x)j. Combining the first and the last number of
this chain of equivalences, we have the desired result.
++

By means of (8) one may prove

(9) (32) (9 & f + (3x)f.
134 T H E JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

Proof: Let y be a bound individual variable not occurring in j.

Then (f (ylx)) (xly) = f, and we have (3x1 (g & f) ++ (by (2) (4)
(3x1 (s & f & (3y)f (ylx)) ) (8))
(by (3) and (1))( ~ Y ) ~ ( Y / x (by
--+ -+

(3x)f, hence (9) in virtue of (7).

Now it is easy to prove (6) :

The validity of (6) has interesting consequence^.^^ It shows that

Quine's thesis is valid (under my interpretation of the thesis) insofar
as quantification theory is concerned : the premise ( a x ) (x = a) is
all that we need in order to make a behave like a name with reference.
I t also shows that this formula serves as a counterpart of such
expressions of ordinary language as 'a exists'. This enable us t o
reconstruct formally in our new system a number of arguments
which cannot be accommodated in the traditional quantification
theory without resorting to some artificial methods such as the
replacement of proper names by descriptions. The simple inference
from 'Moby Dick exists' and 'Moby Dick is a white whale' to 'there
exists a white whale' is a case in point. I n fact, it is an instance of
(6). This example enables us to see what went on in the proof of
(6). Ordinary logic and language are apt to take the lemmata
(7)-(9) for granted. Hence what we did is essentially this: we
construed 'Moby Dick exists' as 'something is hloby Dick' or,
more explicitly, 'some actually existing object is Moby Dick'
(where 'is' is the 'is' of identity). Together with 'Moby Dick is a
white whale', this implies, by the substitutivity of identicals, that
the object just mentioned is a white whale. Hence, some actually
existing object is a white whale; in short, there exists a white whale.
The reader is invited to compare this piece of reasoning with the
proof of (6).
To return to the question of the validity of QT, it is important
to realize what (6) proves and what it does not prove. I have been
dealing with the relations of ~ h r e edifferent claims : (i) a is not empty
14 T h e above proof of (6) shows that in the original system we could have
replaced (3) (b) by the following rule: (3)*(b) If a occurs in f, then j -t (32)
X (x = a ) . Similarly, it can be shown that (3) (a) can be replaced by the following
rule: (3)*(a) If y occurs in f then f -,(32) (x = y). Moreover, it turns out that
($)*(a) enables us to omit (4) (a) and that (3)*(b) enables us to omit (4) (b).
? h e resulting system is similar to the one suggested by Richard Montague and
Donald Pcalish in "A simplification of Tarski's formu1,ztion of the predicate
calculus, Bulletin of the American .llatl~ematicalSociety, Vol. 62 (1956), p. 261.
Of course, the validity of my reformulation of Quine's thesis is obvious in any
system in which existential generalization is restricted to @)*(a)and (3)*(b).
 E X I S T E N T I A L PRESUPPOSITIONS 135

(i.e., the individual referred to by a exists) ; (ii) the individual

referred to by a is a value of a bound variable (this was formalized by
(32) (5 = a ) ; (iii) a can be subjected to existential generalization.
I have argued for the following implications : (i) -+ (ii) ; (ii) -+ (iii) ;
(iii) -+ (i). Together these three implications would show that
(i)-(iii) are all equivalent. Of these implications, (i) + (ii) is
trivial, and (ii) -+ (iii) was proved by (6) as conclusively as one
may wish. There remains the implication (iii) + (i). I t says that
the success of existential generalization with respect to a is a
sufficient condition for the existence of the individual to which a
tries to refer. This is, in effect, Quine's original criterion of onto-
logical commitment which was referred to above as the starting-
point of QT. What I have given in the first place is therefore not
so much a pl*oof of QT as a reduction of QT to the older thesis
(I shall call it OT) that the only way of committing oneself onto-
logically is to use existential generalization.
What does this thesis amount to? There are formulations of the
traditional quantification theory in which the rule of existential
generalization does not appear among the basic rules, and into
which the existential presuppositions are consequently imported by
some other rule. OT cannot deny this. What it therefore says is
that there is at least one systematization of logic in which the rule
of existential generalization is the only axiom or rule of inference
whose applicability depends on the success of singular terms in
referring. Now suppose there is a system of this kind for some part
of logic which includes quantification theory. What we have
found shows that one can omit the critical rule and obtain a system
whose applicability is not limited to singular terms that do refer.
In the new system one can rehabilitate each singular term a which
one wants to restore to the status of a non-empty term by introducing
the contingent premise (32)(2 = a ) as above. This new system
can truly be said to be a logic zoithozlt existential presuppositions.
Hence we can conclude that the validity of OT would imply the
possibility of a logic without existential presuppositions, provided
that we are dealing with a part of logic which includes quantification
theory.
We have seen that OT holds in quantification theory. Hence
we would have highly interesting general conclusions if quantifica-
tion theory were the only logic we have to come to terms with.
IIowever, I do not think that the scope of logic can be limited this
way. There are other kinds of contexts to be considered, notably
those governed by such modal operators as 'possibly' and 'neces-
sarily'. I t would take us too far to attempt a treatment of these
contexts in this paper. For this reason, the ultimate validity of
136 T H E JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

OT must here be left undecided. The best I can do is to state that

I am not aware of any parts of logic in which it fails. In particular,
it seems to me that a 'logic without existential presuppositions' is
not without advantages in modal logic. An example from a
closely related field perhaps lends this contention some plausibility.
Prior's puzzle about names like 'Bucephalus' is due exactly to the
use of existential generalization; he is worried about the fact that
this process yields illegitimate inferences if sentences in the present
tense are really thought of as referring to the present moment.
The (invalid) inference from 'Alexander rode Bucephalus' to 'there
is (sc., now is) an object which Alexander rode' is a case in point.
From what we have found it appears that existential generalization
with respect to a term actually depends on a tacit premise which
insures that the term in question really refers to something. I n
the present case this premise would be, under Prior's reading of
present-tense sentences, 'Bucephalus (now) exists'. This is simply
false, making the offensive inference impossible. Thus Prior's
puzzle is dissolved in a straightforward way which seems to me
preferable to his own solution.15
Even though the question of the ultimate validity of OT is
left a t large, the reduction of Quine's thesis to O T is not without
relevance to the discussion about QT. The old thesis OT seems much
more flexible than QT and correspondingly easier to defend. For
instance, OT does not presuppose that definite descriptions can be
eliminated in terms of bound variables. I t is therefore independent
of Russell's theory. I n virtue of the reduction, the same is true of
QT under my reconstruction of the thesis a t least. This argument
for the independence of QT of Russell's theory may be clinched by
developing, within the modified quantification theory, a theory of
descriptions which avoids the mistakes of Russell's. However, it
mould take us too far to attempt such a theory here.16 Also, the
mere fact that our modified quantification theory is a better
approximation toward the logic of ordinary language than the
traditional theory, suggests that whatever features are preserved in
the transition from the latter to the former are likely to prevail in
ordinary language. Quine's thesis is a case in point, whereas it can
be shown that Russell's theory is not.
While there thus remains a need for further work, I hope to
have indicated how we can better appraise the existential commit-
l6 According to Prior, 'Bucephalus' "can no longer count as a proper name"
because Alexander's horse has ceased to exist. For this reason, it is no longer
amenable to existential generalization, and should be replaced by a definite
description. However, this implies the eminently unsatisfactory conclusion that
the logical status of a name changes when its bearer dies.
'6 Some suggestions toward such a theory will be presented in an article forth-
coming in Analysis.
 E X I S T E N T I A L PRESUPPOSITIONS 137

ments of our discourse by dispensing with the existential pre-

suppositions of our logic.
JAAKKO HINTIKKA
O F HELSINKI,
UNIVERSITY FINLAND,
.4ND

THESOCIETYOF FELLOWS,
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY

BOOK REVIEWS
the Logic of 'Better.'
0% SORENHALLDON.L und : CWK Gleerup ;
Copenhagen : Ejnar Alunksgaard [1957]. 111 pp. (Library of
Theoria, ed. by Ake Petzall. Yo. 2 . ) Sw. kr. 18.-.
This book is a development within what "may be called 'formal
ethics,' . . . or better still 'deontic logic' " (p. 9 ) .
Hallden recognizes that
It may be maintained that the sentences which are discussed in deontic logic
are radically different from the sentences which are normally studied in logic.
We cannot regard wishes as true or false and i t may be disputed whether the
sentences in which 'ought' and 'may' are asserted are actually true or false.
[P. 10.1

But, he continues, in Chapter I :

Without being disturbed by such philosophical perplexities, we shall in the
present study make a n attempt t o build up a logical theory f o r two ethical
terms, 'better' and 'equally good as.' The theory we shall set forth will be
developed in a philosophically naive manner. We shall proceed just as if the
sentences we are considering were ordinary sentences, just a s if their mean-
ingfulness were as unproblematic a s t h a t of empirical sentences of the elemen-
tary kind. And we shall not inquire into the nature of the logical relationships
which are investigated. The question of the ultimate character and status of
the theory will be disregarded. [P. 10.1
We s11all not consider value comparisons by which individual objects, classes
and properties are compared with each other with regard to their value. The
value ccmparisons we shall investigate are those in mhich tmo possibilities p
and q are compared. They assert either t h a t p is t o be preferred t o q or t h a t
p and q are equal in value. We shall use the letter 'B' t o denote the first
of the two relations, the relation of betterness. The second of the two re-
lations, that of equality, will be denoted by 's'. [Pp. 11-12.]

"It should be stressed that the letters ' p ' and 'q' are here em-
ployed as propositional variables" ; also, that "the letters 'B' and
'S' are . . . used in a sense which is stricter, more pure" than in
ordinary language (p. 12). "The sentences 'p B q ' and ' p S q' are
only concerned with the value order of the propositions they deal
with" (p. 12). "The sentences . . . are those which can be built