Beginning with Nelson Goodman’s notion of exemplification, the possibility of using non-word objects (where ‘objects’ include events, states of affairs, situations and the like) to fulfil the predicative function ordinarily accomplished by words and expressions in language is described. It is shown that there are in fact many kinds of cases in which this function called ‘qualification’ does figure, albeit unnoticed, in dealings with objects. This notion of qualification is intended to be correlative with, and of the same generality as, reference, and with reference it enables a better understanding of the primitive structure that Quine and Strawson call the ‘basic combination’. Aside from its importance to philosophical logic, qualification serves as one of the main ingredients in the account of metaphor.
Keywords: N. Goodman, qualification, predication, reference, exemplification, basic combination, P. Strawson, W.V.O. Quine