Note 254 — Chapter VIII

The universe of discourse must here be taken to be the material universe. With reference to this example, however, a critic writes, “But surely the universe of imagination is the only one applicable; for unicorns have long been known not to belong to the actual material universe.” The universe of imagination may be required in order to sustain the position that the subject of the proposition exists in the universe of discourse; but any person making the statement would certainly not be referring to the world of imagination or the universe of heraldry, for the simple reason that in either of these cases the proposition (which must then be interpreted elliptically) would obviously not be true. On the other hand, we can quite well suppose the statement made with reference to the material universe: “Whether unicorns exist or not, at any rate they have never been seen.” Again, to take another example of a similar kind where the reference is also to the phenomenal universe, we can quite well suppose the statement made: “Whether there are ghosts or not, at any rate none have ever troubled me.” In order to avoid misapprehension, it is important to distinguish the above examples from such (elliptical) propositions as the following: “The wrath of the Homeric gods is very terrible,” “Fairies are able to assume different forms.” In each of these cases, the subject of the proposition (properly interpreted) exists in the particular universe to which reference is made. See notes 2 and 3 on page 213.