Symbolic existence in Hugh MacColl

a dialogical approach

Juan Redmond

pp. 457-474

in: Arnold Koslow, Arthur Buchsbaum (eds), The road to universal logic I, Basel, Birkhäuser, 2015

Abstract

In this paper, we present a dynamic dialogical interpretation of the notion of symbolic existence proposed by Hugh MacColl in 1906 in his book Symbolic Logic and its Applications. We begin by analyzing how MacColl presented the notion in the framework of his symbolic logic, which includes nonexistent objects. Then, from the perspective of dialogical logic, we propose a logical interpretation of the notion of symbolic existence implementing a dynamic quantifier and a dependency predicate inspired by the artifactual theory of Amie Thomasson. This allows us to show how the ontologically symbolic character of an entity may be understood as it relates to its possible existence and in a pragmatic context.

Cited authors

MacColl Hugh