Operation which introduces existential quantification
In
formal semantics, existential closure is an operation which introduces
existential quantification. It was first posited by
Irene Heim in her 1982 dissertation, as part of her analysis of
indefinites. In her formulation, existential closure is a form of unselective binding which
binds any number of variables of any semantic type.[1][2] In
alternative semantics and related frameworks, the term is often applied to a closely related operation which existentially quantifies over a set of
propositional alternatives.[3][4]