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    Frege's distinction between sense and reference shows tha... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Universals are signs of things referring to several individuals at once

    Frege's distinction between sense and reference shows that a term referring to multiple individuals must have determinate sense, which a purely produced sign lacks.

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Sense determines reference: without determinate sense, a term cannot reliably pick out the same referents across contexts.
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    • 2.Purely produced signs lack conventional meaning: random symbol generation cannot establish the stable sense required for reference.
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    • 3.Multiple reference requires identity conditions: terms referring to multiple individuals must have criteria distinguishing which individuals qualify.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Sense and reference can diverge: indexicals like 'I' have determinate sense yet reference depends on context, not sense alone.
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    • 2.Causal-historical accounts of reference bypass sense: names refer via causal chains, not determinate conceptual content of the sign.
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    • 3.Vagueness permits reference: terms with indeterminate sense (borderline cases) still successfully refer to multiple determinate individuals.
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    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Causal-historical accounts of reference bypass sense: names refer via causal cha...Multiple reference requires identity conditions: terms referring to multiple ind...Purely produced signs lack conventional meaning: random symbol generation cannot...Sense and reference can diverge: indexicals like 'I' have determinate sense yet ...
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    Sense determines reference: without determinate sense, a term cannot reliably pi...Universals are signs of things referring to several individuals at onceVagueness permits reference: terms with indeterminate sense (borderline cases) s...

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