Do Unicorns Exist? #11

And what, please, is an ontological commitment?

Here’s an interesting little philosophical puzzle.

If I say, “unicorns exist,” am I actually saying that unicorns exist? Well, yes, one might say. Obviously, that’s the meaning of it.

When I say, instead, “not everything is not a unicorn,” do I say that “unicorns exist” in the same way? Think about it: There are unicorns. So far, so good. And then, there are all these things that are not unicorns: traffic lights, lions, accountants, philosophy books, numbers. If everything was not a unicorn, then there wouldn’t be any unicorns. If not everything was a non-unicorn, then there surely must be at least one unicorn; otherwise, everything would be a non-unicorn. Still with me?