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Full Idea
When we reconstrue quantification in terms of substituted expressions rather than real values, we waive reference. ...but if reference matters, we cannot afford to waive it as a category; and if it does not, we do not need to.
Gist of Idea
Either reference really matters, or we don't need to replace it with substitutions
Source
Willard Quine (Reply to Professor Marcus [1962], p.183)
Book Ref
Quine,Willard: 'Ways of Paradox and other essays' [Harvard 1976], p.183
A Reaction
An odd dilemma to pose. Presumably the substitution account is an attempt to explain how language actually works, without mentioning dubious direct ontological commitment in the quantifiers.