When you say “I exist,” what are you saying? Are you claiming there is a body at a location? A stream of consciousness? A pattern?
Why is it that something we can be so confident about is one of the words we can define the least precisely?
This video is about existence. I cover:
Russell’s escape route: stop treating existence like an ordinary property of individuals. Treat many existence claims as claims about whether a description is instantiated.
“Batman” becomes “the caped crusader of Gotham.” If no such unique person is instantiated, no nonexistent vigilante needs to be referred to.
Kripke’s challenge: names and descriptions behave differently in modal contexts. Peter Parker may have avoided the radioactive spider bite. “The guy bitten by a radioactive spider” does not move the same way.
Meinong’s tempting move (at least to me): objecthood and existence can come apart.
How existence and non-existence is everywhere: software and AI give analogies for nulls, fictional truths, and real-wo…
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