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    The medieval distinction between particular and descripti... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Proper names carry two kinds of sense: a particular sense and an associated descriptive sense.

    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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    Reasons For

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    • 1.A name's semantic content must be stable across speakers with different beliefs, else communication becomes impossible.
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    • 2.Medieval theories treating descriptive content as essential to names makes reference dependent on contingent psychological states.
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    • 3.Proper names function to pick out objects directly, not through accumulated speaker associations that vary individually.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Medieval theorists distinguished sense from psychological association; descriptive sense isn't mere contingent belief.
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    • 2.Even direct reference theories require some identifying condition; purely semantic distinctions don't eliminate speaker competence.
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    • 3.The claim conflates how names work semantically with epistemological questions about how speakers know what names refer to.
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    Philosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    A name's semantic content must be stable across speakers with different beliefs,...Even direct reference theories require some identifying condition; purely semant...Medieval theories treating descriptive content as essential to names makes refer...Medieval theorists distinguished sense from psychological association; descripti...
    +3 moreShow less
    Proper names carry two kinds of sense: a particular sense and an associated desc...Proper names function to pick out objects directly, not through accumulated spea...The claim conflates how names work semantically with epistemological questions a...

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