...The Classical Argument for possible nonexistent objects depends on both the possibility of singular negative existentials and the Ontological Principle. The Ontological Principle is the principle that any world in which a singular proposition is true, is one in which there is such a thing as its...

... of such a proposition. In general, belief reports abstract from belief contents. The content of the sentence is an abstraction from the content of the belief, in effect an equivalence class of different belief (or thought) contents, each one of which requires the truth of that singular proposition. Perhaps the content...

...Existentialism is the claim that quidditative properties and singular propositions are ontologically dependent upon the individuals they involve. In this essay, I consider two arguments for existentialism and find them both unconvincing. I then give an argument against the existential thesis...

...David Kaplan's notion of direct reference is analyzed. His apparatus of singular proposition and its relation to the intensional logics of Frege and Russell are sorted out. There follows a discussion of Kaplan's account of indexicals and demonstratives, as well as his theory of cognitive states...

...Chapter 7 concluded with the claim that the Classical Argument for possible non‐existent objects depends on both the possibility of singular negative existentials and the Ontological Principle. The Ontological Principle is the principle that any world in which a singular proposition is true is one...

...Let a “singular proposition” be any proposition expressed by a sentence that uses a rigid designator or directly referring term. Thus, plausibly, “Lincoln was tall” expresses a singular proposition. The received view is that singular propositions have the relevant individual (in this case, Lincoln...