Single Idea 18968

[catalogued under 19. Language / D. Propositions / 6. Propositions Critique]

Full Idea

The trouble with propositions, as cognitive meanings of eternal sentences, is individuation. Given two eternal sentences, themselves visibly different linguistically, it is not sufficiently clear under when to say that they mean the same proposition.

Gist of Idea

The problem with propositions is their individuation. When do two sentences express one proposition?

Source

Willard Quine (Propositional Objects [1965], p.140)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.140


A Reaction

If a group of people agree that two sentences mean the same thing, which happens all the time, I don't see what gives Quine the right to have a philosophical moan about some dubious activity called 'individuation'.