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Single Idea 7317

[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 8. Synonymy ]

Full Idea

It is easy to see that intersubstitutability salva veritate is not a sufficient condition for synonymy. 'Renate' (with kidney) and 'cordate' (with heart) can be substituted in a purely extensional language, but are plainly not synonymous.

Clarification

'Intersubstitutability salva veritate' meaning swapping without changing the truth value

Gist of Idea

'Renate' and 'cordate' have identical extensions, but are not synonymous

Source

report of Willard Quine (Two Dogmas of Empiricism [1953]) by Alexander Miller - Philosophy of Language 4.2

Book Ref

Miller,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Language' [UCL Press 1998], p.117


A Reaction

This seems to be a key example (along with Hesperus, and many others) in mapping out synonymy, meaning, analyticity, sense, reference, extension, intension, and all that stuff.

Related Idea

Idea 20295 All analytic truths can become logical truths, by substituting definitions or synonyms [Frege, by Rey]


The 8 ideas with the same theme [whether two items can have identical meaning]:

Single words are strongly synonymous if their interchange preserves truth [Quine]
'Renate' and 'cordate' have identical extensions, but are not synonymous [Quine, by Miller,A]
If we give up synonymy, we have to give up significance, meaning and sense [Grice/Strawson]
There is only similarity in meaning, never sameness in meaning [Harman]
Sentences might have the same sense when logically equivalent - or never have the same sense [Kaplan]
Mental states may have the same content but different extensions [Fodor]
Externalist synonymy is there being a correct link to the same external phenomena [Rey]
Could expressions have meaning, without two expressions possibly meaning the same? [Boghossian]