GaryLouisSmith wrote: ↑September 30th, 2019, 2:01 amOntologically speaking, I think negative facts do exist. I walk into a restaurant and I see that my friend Keshab is not there. I look in my wallet and I see that I have no money. I ask my friend a question and I see that he has no answer. We can be directly aware of the absence or non-existence of something.
No we can't, because absences or lacks aren't entities, and nonentities aren't perceptible. The reification of absences or lacks as
entia negativa (negative entities) is a big ontological mistake.
When you become aware that your friend Keshab isn't there, you don't see the
negative state of affairs of Keshab's not being there. For you don't see the
positive state of affairs of Keshab's being there, and conclude therefrom that he's not there.
Not seeing his presence is not the same as
seeing his absence! Being/Existence is always positive! Negation—"the not"—mustn't be reified in terms of negative entities such as negative facts or negative properties.