The Generic Conception of the Universal,
Abstract
The view that generic noun phrases denote universals of a certain kind ('genera') is untenable. This applies not only to noun phrases formed with generic 'the', but also to mass nouns, plural-noun phrases, and phrases with generic 'a'. Two ways of construing generic phrases as singular terms are attempted without success. (1) Genera are construed after Twardowski as 'representative objects' having all, only, or all and only those properties exemplified by all of their instances. (2) Genera are identified with the products of abstraction in the sense of Lorenzen. It is concluded that the seeming singular-term use of generics involves implicit universal quantification. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0725065
Entities
People
- John Bacon
Organizations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem