Non-existing objects: a pseudo problem?
Keywords:
Nonexistent. Intentionality. Concepts. Ryle. Representation.Abstract
How can we represent Santa Claus if Santa Claus does not exist? If representing something involves having a relation to what is represented, then how to establish a constitutive relation with a representation of something that does not exist? This is the famous problem of “intentional non-existence” in philosophy of mind. Here we argue that this is a pseudoproblem, a categorical error. To do so, based on Gilber Ryle’s The Concept of Mind, we show that this error arises when we include “non-existent” objects in the “immaterial” category, when in fact they belong to the category of “abstract objects.” After all, we have shown that if we could not bear a relationship with the “non-existent”, we, the human animals, might want to conceive such objects, but this is obviously a contradiction.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Argumentos magazine is licensed under an International Creative Commons Attribution License.
The Magazine uses CC BY inclusion
1) The authors retain the copyright granted to the magazine or the right to initial publication, with the work regularly licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution, which allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this magazine.
2) The authors are authorized to contract additional applicable contracts, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (for example, publication in the institutional repository or as a chapter of the book), recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are authorized and encourage to publish and distribute their work online (for example, in institutional repositories or on their personal pages) at any time before or during the editorial process, as they can generate productive changes, as well as increase the impact and reference of published work.
.jpg)
._._3.png)
1.jpg)
._._._.png)
