罗素论存在

Russell on Existence

本体论的核心问题是"世界上究竟存在什么东西?"与该问题密切相关的另一个问题是"‘存在’是什么意思?"本文仅仅关注第二个问题,限于讨论对存在概念本身的分析。准确地说,本文的主要任务在于澄清Russell关于存在概念的理论。这个任务将分为两个步骤来完成。首先,我将转述Russell自己的理论。然后,我将着重处理McGinn对Russell的理论的三个批评。我将证明,McGinn的批评不对Russell造成任何威胁。但是,这并不意味着Russell提供了一种十分理想的理论,因为(正如我们将要看见的)Russell的理论至少有一个严重的弱点。

The characteristic question of ontology is ＂What do exist in the world？＂ There is another question, which is closely tied with the first one, namely ： ＂What does ＇ exist＇ mean？＂ The present study is focused only on the second question, i.e. on the analysis of the concept of existence itself. More exactly ： The task here is the clarification of Russell＇ s theory of the concept of existence. In the discussion below, this task will be carried out in two steps..fit first, I shall reconstruct Russell＇ s own theory. Then I shall consider McGinn＇ s three criticcal remarks upon Russell＇ s Theory., McGinn＇ s remarks, as it will be proven, do not threaten Russell at all. However, this conclusion does not mean that Russell＇ s theory is an acceptable one, because it has at least one serious weakness.