“Something”

“Something” does not work in English the way “∃” works in a first-order language: it cannot always be associated with a domain of objects, and it can quantify into some positions that cannot be occupied by names or nominative phrases (as in “You are something that I am not—kind”). The best positive account of how it works, detailed and defended in this chapter, is substitutional. Since not all substitutes introduce objects, not all uses of “something” are ontologically committing. One merit of the view is that it explains the consistency of believing that there are things that don’t exist while not believing that there are nonexistent things.