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    Carmelics

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

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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 Sentences must signify more than just the understandings of their constituent terms

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.All linguistic meaning is mediated by mental content: we have no unmediated cognitive access to worldly referents independent of conceptual representation.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If mental mediation is necessary for all signification, then what sentences signify is constituted by and inseparable from the understandings they produce in competent speakers.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Abelard's distinction between signifying understandings and signifying the world collapses if the world is only accessible to language through the very understandings he seeks to exclude.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Frege's puzzle about identity shows that 'Hesperus is Phosphorus' and 'Hesperus is Hesperus' differ in cognitive significance despite sharing the same worldly referents.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If sameness of worldly reference cannot account for this semantic difference, then sentence meaning must include something like senses or understandings beyond mere reference to external states of affairs.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.A sentence such as 'Socrates runs' deals with Socrates and with running, not with anyone's understandings of those terms
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.When we speak, we talk about the world, not merely someone's understanding of the world
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

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