To most mathematical logicians working in the 1980s, first-order logic is the proper and natural framework for mathematics. Yet it was not always so. In 1923, when a young Norwegian mathematician named Thoralf Skolem argued that set theory should be based on first-order logic, it was a radical and unprecedented proposal. The radical nature of what Skolem proposed resulted, above all, from its e...

W. V. Quine splits the fundamental question of ontology—What is there?—into two questions: What does a theory say that there is? and What theories ought we adopt? Of these, only the former seems amenable to philosophical treatment. Quine thus attempts to formulate an adequate criterion of ontological commitment. Syntactically, the initially existentially quantified sentences of a theory appear ...

background: the purpose of study was to evaluate and compare chemical quality of iranian bottled drinking water reported on manufacturer's labeling and standards. methods: this study was a cross-sectional descriptive study and done during july to december 2008. the bottled mineral water collected from shops randomly were analyzed for all parameters address on manufacturer's labeling and the res...

Skolemization is a means to eliminate existential quantiiers within predicate logic sentences by replacing existentially quantiied variables with Skolem function applications. The arguments of such Skolem functions are variables that are quantiied outside the sub-formula under consideration. In this article a skolemization technique is introduced which abstracts from some of the Skolem function...