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It is not the case that Frege's context principle permits number-words to contribute to sentence truth conditions without requiring corresponding objects in the domain.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
If number-words contribute to truth-conditions, compositional semantics requires assigning them content independent of sentential context.
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2.
The context principle, taken literally, makes it mysterious how sentences about numbers have determinate truth-values at all.
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3.
Mathematical discourse presupposes quantification over numbers; truth-conditions require such objects exist in the domain.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Sentence meaning is semantically fundamental; reference to objects is derivative and explanatorily secondary to sentential context.
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2.
Numbers demonstrably affect truth-conditions of sentences without requiring platonist commitment to abstract objects.
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3.
The context principle dissolves traditional ontological puzzles by shifting analysis from terms to whole sentences.
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