Quineās criterion of ontological commitment
Quick Summary
W.V.O. Quine's criterion of ontological commitment is a principle in philosophy that helps determine what entities a theory assumes to exist. It states that a theory is committed to those entities that must be the values of its variables for the theory's statements to be true.12
In simpler terms, if you want to know what a theory says exists, you should express the theory in a formal logical language, specifically the first-order predicate calculus. Then, look at the statements that begin with an existential quantifier (like "There exists an x such that..."). The things that x can stand for are the things the theory is ontologically committed to.132
Quine's criterion suggests that we should look to our best scientific theories to understand what exists, favoring a "sparse" ontologyāmeaning we should only commit to entities that are truly necessary. This approach aims to clarify the existential assumptions underlying our beliefs and theories.142
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.