Combining Philosophers

Ideas for B Hale / C Wright, Hermann von Helmholtz and Charles Chihara

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2 ideas

19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / b. Causal reference

9547	Mathematical entities are causally inert, so the causal theory of reference won't work for them [Chihara]
	Full Idea: Causal theories of reference seem doomed to failure for the case of reference to mathematical entities, since such entities are evidently causally inert.
	From: Charles Chihara (A Structural Account of Mathematics [2004], 01.3)
	A reaction: Presumably you could baptise a fictional entity such as 'Polonius', and initiate a social causal chain, with a tradition of reference. You could baptise a baby in absentia.

19. Language / B. Reference / 4. Descriptive Reference / a. Sense and reference

12231	Reference needs truth as well as sense [Hale/Wright]
	Full Idea: It takes, over and above the possession of sense, the truth of relevant contexts to ensure reference.
	From: B Hale / C Wright (The Metaontology of Abstraction [2009], §9)
	A reaction: Reference purely through sense was discredited by Kripke. The present idea challenges Kripke's baptismal realist approach. How do you 'baptise' an abstract object? But isn't reference needed prior to the establishment of truth?