METODO

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

194289

(1995) Frege, Dordrecht, Springer.

The neo-Fregean argument

John Biro

pp. 185-206

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

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

Full citation:

Biro, J. (1995)., The neo-Fregean argument, in J. Biro & P. Kotatko (eds.), Frege, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 185-206.

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