Words without Objects

• Main Author: Henry Laycock
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 1998-12-01
• Series: Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology
• Subjects: Mass nouns; mass expressions; ontology
• Online Access: http://www.periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/18373/17212

Resolution of the problem of mass nouns depends on an expansion of our semantic/ontological taxonomy. Semantically, mass nouns are neither singular nor plural; they apply to neither just one object, nor to many objects, at a time. But their deepest kinship links them to the plural. A plural phrase — 'the cats in Kingston' — does not denote a single plural thing, but merely many distinct things. Just so, 'the water in the lake' does not denote a single aggregate — it is not ONE, but rather MUCH. The world is not the totality of singular objects, plural objects, and mass objects; for there are no plural or mass objects. It is the totality of single objects and (just) stuff.