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    Proper names carry two kinds of sense: a particular sense... — Carmelics
    Home/Philosophy of Language
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    Proper names carry two kinds of sense: a particular sense and an associated descriptive sense.

    Philosophy of Language
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.The proper name signifies a particular substance and its quality (particular sense).
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    • 2.The proper name may also include the apprehension of something common — e.g., saying 'Virgil' calls up the common notions 'man' and 'poet' (associated sense).
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    • 3.These two kinds of sense are distinct: the particular sense cannot be expressed by common notions, while the associated sense can.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Proper names refer directly to their bearers without any mediating sense, as Kripke argues in 'Naming and Necessity' via rigid designation across possible worlds.
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    • 2.If 'Virgil' rigidly designates the same individual in all possible worlds, its reference is fixed by causal-historical chains, not descriptive content that could vary or be wrong.
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    • 3.The 'associated descriptive sense' fails as a semantic component because users can refer successfully to Virgil while holding false or no descriptions of him.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.The medieval distinction between particular and descriptive sense conflates the semantic role of a name with the psychological associations speakers contingently attach to it.
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    • 2.Frege's own framework, which grounds the sense/reference distinction, treats sense as objective and public, not as the variable common notions different speakers happen to associate with a name.
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    • 3.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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    Philosophy of Language

    Related

    Frege's own framework, which grounds the sense/reference distinction, treats sen...If 'Virgil' rigidly designates the same individual in all possible worlds, its r...If two speakers associate different common notions with 'Virgil'—one 'poet', ano...Proper names refer directly to their bearers without any mediating sense, as Kri...
    +5 moreShow less
    The 'associated descriptive sense' fails as a semantic component because users c...The medieval distinction between particular and descriptive sense conflates the ...The proper name may also include the apprehension of something common — e.g., sa...The proper name signifies a particular substance and its quality (particular sen...These two kinds of sense are distinct: the particular sense cannot be expressed ...

    Similar

    Coreferential names can differ in sense86%Proper names must have a sense, not merely a referent.85%The sense of a name is a condition which the referent uniquely satisfi...83%The proper name signifies a particular substance and its quality (part...82%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: singular-terms-medieval
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    The Stoics had made a clear distinction between proper names and common nouns, listing them as different parts of speech, but while this possibility was recognized by Priscian and the influential twelfth century grammarian, Peter Helias, it was not adopted. According to Priscian, the nomen, the noun or name, is the first of the principal parts of speech, and it signifies substance with quality, that is, it signifies a thing of a certain sort, or an individual established in a certain nature. The
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit