On Quine's Theory Of Ontological Commitment

The theoretical problems to be solved by Quine's ontological commitment theory mainly include two aspects,the weirdness that meaning of words depends on their reference and the relationship between science and ontology.In an attempt to solve the above theoretical problems through the method of ontological commitment,Quine found that naming behavior did not mean making an ontological commitment to named objects,and that nouns and predicates did not possess the function of ontological commitment.Quantifier theory was Quine's main method of constructing ontological commitment theory,providing the fundamental basis for the establishment of Quine's ontological commitment theory.On the basis of inheriting Frege's quantifier theory,Quine's quantifier theory was established and applied.Therefore,in order to accurately comprehend Quine's ontological commitment theory,we must fully grasp Frege's quantifier theory.By introducing quantification into the study of ontological commitment theory,Quine established the criterion of ontological commitment that "to be is the value of bound variables".According to the viewpoint of Quine,the bound variables in quantitative expressions exerted the function of ontological commitment.When the quantitative expression contained in a theory is true,the value of the variable is the entity that the theory commits to exist.However,not all objects can become the value of the bound variable,furthermore becoming the entities commited by the theory.Introducing the concept of identity into the ontological commitment theory,Quine restricted the ontological commitment with the extended identity.Eventually,Quine established the test criterion of ontological commitment that " there is no entity without identity ".It was only the object that satisfying the requirement of identity would become the value of the bound variable,and then became the entity that the theory commited to exist.Normally,scientific theories are expressed in natural language.According to Quine's ontological commitment theory,if we want to inform the ontological commitment made by a theory,we must rewrite it into a language with obvious quantitative form.In the process of rewriting the original theory,the ontological commitment represents relative characteristics in terms of background theory,translation manuals,and quantifier interpretation.In addition,the test criterion of ontological commitment that "there is no entity without identity " brings about its obvious characteristic of extensionism.Regarding the identity of extension as a necessary condition to ontological commitment,Quine denied the ontological status of connotative and abstract entities.In the period of logical positivism,ontological problems,not be proved by experience,were rejected by logical positivists,and were regarded as meaningless philosophical problems.By means of semantic ascent,Quine confined the study of ontology within the framework of language,thus inhibiting the "transcendentality" of traditional ontological study.The semantic ascent was to indirectly discuss the reality of real world objects by discussing meaning and reference of words,the truth and falsity of sentences,the meaning and relations of sentence system,so as to avoid disputes arising from directly discussing the external objective world.Quine's ontological commitment theory firstly restored the status of ontological study in analytical philosophy,then improved the theoretical image of traditional metaphysics,and ultimately had a profound impact on metaphysics studies.Based on ontological commitment theory,Quine queried the validity of modal logic.Quine argued that modal operators such as "possibly " and "necessarily" result in ambiguous structure of reference,resulting in the failure of the identy substitution and the existential generalization.Once modal logic entered into quantification theory,which will make ontological commitment to intensional entities,leading to the problem of object proliferation.Quine denied the "synonymy" between meanings based on the test criterion of ontological commitment.Quine argued that definitions could not create synonymous relationships between meanings,except for conventional definitions.Definitions were not the source of synonymy.The logical methods of interchangeable salvaveritate,the verification theory and reductionism could not guarantee the synonymous relationship between meanings.Quine's theory of ontological commitment had influenced on his theory of meaning,reference and formation of the view on modal logic.In philosophical system of Quine,ontological commitment theory occupied a basic theoretical position.Quine's ontological commitment theory has important theoretical significance.The rationality of Quine's ontological commitment theory was mainly embodied in the following aspects.Firstly,Quine's ontological commitment theory made a strict distinction between words' meaning and reference.Secondly,in ontological study,Quine's ontological commitment theory embodied clarity and frugality.Thirdly,Quine's ontological commitment theory restrained the transcendence of the traditional ontological study.