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Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Thinking about Consciousness' and 'LOT 2'

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2 ideas

19. Language / B. Reference / 1. Reference theories
Co-referring terms differ if they have different causal powers [Fodor]
     Full Idea: The representation of 'morning star' must be different from 'evening star' because their tokens differ in their causal powers.
     From: Jerry A. Fodor (LOT 2 [2008], Ch.3.3)
     A reaction: This is Fodor trying to avoid the standard Fregean move of proposing that there are 'senses' as well as references. See Idea 12629. If these two terms have the same extension, they are the same concept? They 'seem' to have two referents.
We refer to individuals and to properties, and we use singular terms and predicates [Fodor]
     Full Idea: I assume that there are two kinds of reference: reference to individuals and to properties. This means, from the syntactic point of view, that the vehicles of reference are exhaustively singular terms and predicates.
     From: Jerry A. Fodor (LOT 2 [2008], Ch.7)
     A reaction: The immediate possibility that comes to mind is plural quantification. See George Boolos, who confidently says that he can refer to 'some Cheerios' in his breakfast bowl, and communicate very well. He then looks to formalise such talk.