Ontological Commitment
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Ontology is, by its etymology, the study of being, of what there is. The ontologist asks which entities or kinds of entity exist: besides concrete persons and puddles, are there abstract entities like sets and numbers; besides particular things, are there properties or universals? Ontological commitment is the device that turns this question into something decidable about a theory.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Take inventory: ask what a theory must posit in order for it to be true. - See through the talk: distinguish what the theory says it is about from what it actually quantifies over. - Compare theories: count the commitments as one consideration in choosing between rivals.
Anchor fast decisions
The key idea is that what a theory is committed to does not depend on what it claims to discuss, but on the domain that its existential quantifiers must range over for the theory to be true. Quine's slogan, to be is to be the value of a bound variable, anchors ontology to the regimented form of our best theory: regiment it into first-order language, then read off the commitments.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-commitment/verified
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