Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Allan Gibbard, E.J. Lowe and George Engelbretsen

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3 ideas

19. Language / B. Reference / 2. Denoting
Terms denote objects with properties, and statements denote the world with that property [Engelbretsen]
     Full Idea: In term logic, what a term denotes are the objects having the property it signifies. What a statement denotes is the world, that which has the constitutive property it signifies.
     From: George Engelbretsen (Trees, Terms and Truth [2005], 4)
19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / a. Direct reference
Direct reference doesn't seem to require that thinkers know what it is they are thinking about [Lowe]
     Full Idea: It may be objected that currently prevailing causal or 'direct' theories of reference precisely deny that a thinker must know what it is the he or she is thinking about in order to be able to think about it.
     From: E.J. Lowe (What is the Source of Knowledge of Modal Truths? [2013], 7)
     A reaction: Lowe says that at least sometimes we have to know that we are thinking about, so this account of reference can't be universally true. My solution is to pull identity and essence apart. You only need identity, not essence, for reference.
19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / b. Causal reference
Naming a thing in the actual world also invokes some persistence criteria [Gibbard]
     Full Idea: The reference of a name in the actual world is fixed partly by invoking a set of persistence criteria which determine what thing it names.
     From: Allan Gibbard (Contingent Identity [1975], III)
     A reaction: This is offered as a modification to Kripke, to deal with the statue and clay. I fear that the 'persistence criteria' may be too vague, and too subject to possible change after the origin, to do the job required.