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Single Idea 7327

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

Full Idea

Davidson thinks that Frege's model for a theory of semantic value (and thereby for a systematic theory of sense) is unsatisfactory, because it provides no useful or explanatory account of how sentence-meaning can be a function of word-meaning.

Gist of Idea

Davidson thinks Frege lacks an account of how words create sentence-meaning

Source

report of Donald Davidson (Truth and Meaning [1967]) by Alexander Miller - Philosophy of Language 8.1

Book Ref

Miller,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Language' [UCL Press 1998], p.246

A Reaction

Put like that, it is not clear to me how you could even start to explain how word-meaning contributes to sentence meaning. Try speaking any sentence slowly, and observe how the sentence meaning builds up. Truth is, of course, relevant.

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]