PHIL 309: Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy

LARKIN: Spring 2003

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DATE:    2-04-03

 

I.                     Objectives

A.      Explicate First Sections of Russell’s “On Denoting”

B.       Compare Russell and Frege on certain key points

 

II.                   Discussion:

Frege’s notion of Sense

What is the sense of a proper name?

 

III.                 Lecture:  Russell’s “On Denoting”

A.      Background Notions: Use/Mention Distinction, Meaning, Proposition, Denoting

 

B.       The First Section: The Theory of Descriptions

 

C.       Second Section: Meinong and Frege Criticisms

 

D.      Third Section (I): Three Semantic Puzzles

 

 

IV.                 Discussion:

How would Frege solve the three semantic puzzles?

 

V.                   Next Time

A.      Topic: Russell’s Argument for his Theory of Descriptions

B.       Reading:   Russell, “On Denoting”

C.       Reading Questions: 

1.        How would Russell analyze the sentence, “The present king of France is bald”?

2.        What does Russell think is wrong with Meinong’s and Frege’s views of denotation?  What is the key difference between these views on the one hand and Russell’s on the other?

3.        Describe the three semantic puzzles that Russell thinks can be used to test a semantic theory.

4.        What are Russell’s solutions to the three puzzles?