Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

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

    It is not the case that Kripke and Putnam show that reference is fixed by causal-historical chains, not by truth-maximizing interpretation of the agent's total belief set.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Causal chains are often vague, broken, or multiply realizable in ways that leave reference indeterminate, contrary to the theory's determinacy claims.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Some intentional states (numbers, moral properties, abstract objects) lack clear causal-historical chains, suggesting the theory cannot be fully general.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Agents' own interpretive frameworks and communicative intentions do constrain reference in ways the causal account underestimates or ignores.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Natural kind terms like 'water' and 'gold' refer to substances discovered through empirical investigation, not definitions agents antecedently believed.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Twin Earth thought experiments show identical belief sets can have different referents based on environmental causal history, not interpretation alone.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The causal-historical account explains how reference can be determinate even when agents hold systematically false or incomplete theories about referents.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.