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194303

The neo-Fregean argument

John Biro

pp. 185-206

Abstract

Is a name a mere meaningless tag, whose function is simply to denote its bearer, as Mill maintained? Or does it, as Frege thought, have, in addition to its reference, a sense, one its user can associate with it, understand, or "grasp"? An argument in favour of the second, Fregean, alternative many philosophers have found well-nigh irresistible is one that takes as its starting point the fact that co-denoting names are apparently not always substitutable salva veritate in sentences ascribing propositional attitudes. Only the postulation of senses, this argument -- which I shall call neo-Fregean -- goes on to claim, can explain this: only a difference in the senses of the names could account for (what is seen as) their different semantic contributions to the sentences in which they occur.1

Publication details

Published in:

Biro John, Kotatko Petr (1995) Frege: sense and reference one hundred years later. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 185-206

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-0411-1_14

Full citation:

Biro John (1995) „The neo-Fregean argument“, In: J. Biro & P. Kotatko (eds.), Frege, Dordrecht, Springer, 185–206.