more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 7313

[filed under theme 19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 5. Fregean Semantics ]

Full Idea

Russell does not claim that Frege's notion of sense is incoherent, but rather that it is superfluous.

Gist of Idea

'Sense' is superfluous (rather than incoherent)

Source

report of Bertrand Russell (On Denoting [1905]) by Alexander Miller - Philosophy of Language 2.9

Book Ref

Miller,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Language' [UCL Press 1998], p.67

A Reaction

My initial reaction to this is that the notion of strict and literal meaning (see Idea 7309) is incredibly useful. Some of the best jokes depend on the gap between implications and strict meaning. How could metaphors be explained without it?

Related Idea

Idea 7309 Frege's 'sense' is the strict and literal meaning, stripped of tone [Frege, by Miller,A]

The 17 ideas with the same theme [giving meaning in the manner laid out by Gottlob Frege]:

11126 'Sense' gives meaning to non-referring names, and to two expressions for one referent [Frege, by Margolis/Laurence]
8164 Frege was the first to construct a plausible theory of meaning [Frege, by Dummett]
9817 Earlier Frege focuses on content itself; later he became interested in understanding content [Frege, by Dummett]
8171 Frege divided the meaning of a sentence into sense, force and tone [Frege, by Dummett]
4954 Frege uses 'sense' to mean both a designator's meaning, and the way its reference is determined [Kripke on Frege]
7304 Frege explained meaning as sense, semantic value, reference, force and tone [Frege, by Miller,A]
7309 Frege's 'sense' is the strict and literal meaning, stripped of tone [Frege, by Miller,A]
7312 'Sense' solves the problems of bearerless names, substitution in beliefs, and informativeness [Frege, by Miller,A]
16349 Russell rejected sense/reference, because it made direct acquaintance with things impossible [Russell, by Recanati]
7313 'Sense' is superfluous (rather than incoherent) [Russell, by Miller,A]
9836 Fregean semantics assumes a domain articulated into individual objects [Dummett]
7331 A theory of meaning comes down to translating sentences into Fregean symbolic logic [Davidson, by Macey]
7327 Davidson thinks Frege lacks an account of how words create sentence-meaning [Davidson, by Miller,A]
2520 Sense determines meaning and synonymy, not referential properties like denotation and truth [Katz]
6077 Semantics should not be based on set-membership, but on instantiation of properties in objects [McGinn]
16382 Fregean modes of presentation can be understood as mental files [Recanati]
18413 Fregeans can't agree on what 'senses' are [Cappelen/Dever]