Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure
Frege claims that sentences of the form ‘A’ are equivalent to sentences of the form ‘it is true that A’ (The Equivalence Thesis). Frege also says that there are fictional names that fail to refer, and that sentences featuring fictional names fail to refer as a result. The thoughts such sentences exp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | ces |
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Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Organon F |
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| Online Access: | https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/03061347orgf.2021.28109.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819183247533277184 |
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| author | Nathan Hawkins |
| author_facet | Nathan Hawkins |
| author_sort | Nathan Hawkins |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Frege claims that sentences of the form ‘A’ are equivalent to sentences of the form ‘it is true that A’ (The Equivalence Thesis). Frege also says that there are fictional names that fail to refer, and that sentences featuring fictional names fail to refer as a result. The thoughts such sentences express, Frege says, are also fictional, and neither true nor false. Michael Dummett argues that these claims are inconsistent. But his argument requires clarification, since there are two ways The Equivalence Thesis has been formulated, according as the thesis equates the senses or the referents of the relevant sentences. I have two aims in this paper. The first is to demonstrate that a sameness of sense thesis is inconsistent with Frege’s other theses. The second is to argue that a sameness of reference thesis is consistent with them. Thus, all else being equal, Frege ought to endorse a sameness of reference, rather than a sameness of sense thesis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T22:58:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a11702af62fa4737ab6299580ff28a87 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1335-0668 2585-7150 |
| language | ces |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T22:58:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Organon F |
| spelling | doaj.art-a11702af62fa4737ab6299580ff28a872022-12-21T18:09:44ZcesInstitute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of SciencesOrganon F1335-06682585-71502021-02-01281198222https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28109Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference FailureNathan Hawkins0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3565-8999Cambridge UniversityFrege claims that sentences of the form ‘A’ are equivalent to sentences of the form ‘it is true that A’ (The Equivalence Thesis). Frege also says that there are fictional names that fail to refer, and that sentences featuring fictional names fail to refer as a result. The thoughts such sentences express, Frege says, are also fictional, and neither true nor false. Michael Dummett argues that these claims are inconsistent. But his argument requires clarification, since there are two ways The Equivalence Thesis has been formulated, according as the thesis equates the senses or the referents of the relevant sentences. I have two aims in this paper. The first is to demonstrate that a sameness of sense thesis is inconsistent with Frege’s other theses. The second is to argue that a sameness of reference thesis is consistent with them. Thus, all else being equal, Frege ought to endorse a sameness of reference, rather than a sameness of sense thesis.https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/03061347orgf.2021.28109.pdfdummettequivalencefictionfregetruereference |
| spellingShingle | Nathan Hawkins Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure Organon F dummett equivalence fiction frege true reference |
| title | Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure |
| title_full | Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure |
| title_fullStr | Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure |
| title_short | Frege’s Equivalence Thesis and Reference Failure |
| title_sort | frege s equivalence thesis and reference failure |
| topic | dummett equivalence fiction frege true reference |
| url | https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/03061347orgf.2021.28109.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathanhawkins fregesequivalencethesisandreferencefailure |