Atomic sentences as singular terms in free logic

Terence Parsons

pp. 103-113

in: Wolfgang Spohn, Brian Skyrms, Bas C. van Fraassen (eds), Existence and explanation, Berlin, Springer, 1991

Abstract

In logic texts, it is generally assumed that verbs denote properties of, or relations among, individuals. This is in marked contrast to the common view that verbs stand for events, actions, or states. In this paper I explore the common view about verbs. This quickly turns into a revised view, according to which it is whole "atomic' sentences (of English) that do the denoting, not just the verbs themselves. This is then most naturally formalized as if sentences of English were singular terms within a version of free logic, with the true ones successfully denoting events, and the false ones failing to denote.