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    Fregeans should deny Fregean descriptivism — that is, the... — Carmelics
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    Fregeans should deny Fregean descriptivism — that is, they should deny that the senses of proper names are the senses of any definite description associated with those names by speakers.

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    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Kripke's modal arguments against descriptivism target the identification of reference-fixing descriptions with meaning, not the existence of Fregean senses per se.
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    • 2.Evans's 'Julius' example demonstrates that senses can be descriptive in their reference-fixing role while remaining irreducible to any description grasped by speakers.
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    • 3.A Fregean can adopt Kripke's causal-historical insights by construing senses as objective, socially-determined modes of presentation not exhausted by any speaker's associated description.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.McDowell and Dummett both argue that Fregean senses need not be individuated by clusters of descriptions but can be constituted by recognitional capacities tied to objects.
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    • 2.If senses are individuated by cognitive significance rather than descriptive content, Kripke's counterexamples—which target descriptive content—leave the core Fregean framework intact.
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    Reasons Against

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    • Kripke's arguments provide strong reason to reject the view that the senses of proper names are the senses of definite descriptions associated with those names by speakers.
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    Topics

    Philosophy of Language

    Key Terms

    Frege / Fregean(as the philosopher whose theory is being discussed)
    Gottlob Frege was a German logician and philosopher who developed important ideas about how language and meaning work. 'Fregean' means relating to his ideas or theories.
    definite description(Contrasted with indefinite descriptions such as 'An F')
    A noun phrase of the form 'The F', purporting to refer to exactly one entity satisfying predicate F
    descriptivism(Contrasted with 'revisionism' in art ontological discussions; cf. Dodd 2012)
    A position in art ontology that grounds ontological claims in actual artistic and art-critical practices.
    proper names(as the type of words Frege's theory addresses)
    Words that refer to specific individual things, like 'Socrates' or 'Paris'—as opposed to general words like 'man' or 'city' that could apply to many things.
    sense(Fregean semantics)
    The mode of presentation by which a name presents its referent; the component of meaning that can differ between two co-referential names

    Related

    A Fregean can adopt Kripke's causal-historical insights by construing senses as ...Evans's 'Julius' example demonstrates that senses can be descriptive in their re...If senses are individuated by cognitive significance rather than descriptive con...Kripke's arguments provide strong reason to reject the view that the senses of p...
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    Kripke's modal arguments against descriptivism target the identification of refe...McDowell and Dummett both argue that Fregean senses need not be individuated by ...

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    Kripke’s arguments provide a strong reason for Fregeans to deny Fregean descriptivism, and hold instead that the senses of proper names are not the senses of any definite description associated with those names by speakers. The main problem for this sort of non-descriptive Fregeanism is to explain what the sense of a name might be such that it can determine the reference of the name, if it is not a condition uniquely satisfied by the reference of the name. Non-descriptive Fregean views were defe
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    Kripke's arguments provide strong reason to reject the view that the s...87%Because proper names share the same semantic properties as common name...78%The sense of a proper name is objective, not merely subjective like an...77%Mastery of proper names does not require associating a reference-deter...77%
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