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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that If two speakers associate different common notions with 'Virgil'—one 'poet', another 'farmer'—the claim that both notions constitute genuine semantic sense leads to referential instability the theory cannot resolve.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Reference can succeed via external causal chains to objects independent of internal senses; divergent senses don't prevent speakers from fixing the same referent.
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    • 2.Everyday communication succeeds despite speakers associating different descriptive content with terms; this shows stability doesn't require uniform individual senses.
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    • 3.The argument equivocates between 'sense' (cognitive content) and 'reference'; multiple senses are compatible with unified reference and successful communication.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Reference requires stable content; divergent associated notions undermine the shared semantic content necessary for successful reference.
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    • 2.If 'Virgil' picks out different conceptual clusters for different speakers, they lack a common sense, making communication about Virgil unstable.
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    • 3.Theories that allow multiple genuine senses per term must explain how speakers coordinate reference despite semantic divergence—a burden they don't meet.
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