One of the origins of our question is the
two-fold use of the propositional function “I
think X”. We say “I think
that so-and-so will happen” or “that
so-and-so is the case”, and also “I
think just the same
thing as he”; and we say
“I expect
58.
him”, and also
“I expect that he will come”.
Compare “I expect him” and
“I shoot him”. We can't
shoot him if he isn't there. This is how the
question arises: “How can we expect something
that is not the case?”, “How can we
expect a fact which does not exist?”