Further objections to nihilism

Abstract

Abstract The nihilist relies heavily on non-substitutional quantification into sentence position. They therefore face the objection that this sort of quantification is unintelligible. (This objection also faces other proponents of ‘higher-order metaphysics’.) This chapter discusses how the nihilist should respond. Priest claims that paradoxes of the same structure should receive the same kind of solution (the ‘Principle of Uniform Solution’). Priest’s principle is a threat to nihilism: here nihilism is defended by challenging his principle. Guindon has recently made an objection to restrictionist solutions to the Liar. His strategy is to present a new paradox he calls the ‘Satisfier paradox’, which does not employ the notion of truth, and to argue that every solution to the Satisfier leads to a non-restrictionist solution to the Liar. This calls into question the idea that the Liar motivates restrictionism. The chapter responds to Guindon’s objection on behalf of nihilists and other restrictionists.