Note: Frege's puzzle--if reference exhausts the semantic content of an expression then a=a and a=b are the same

Note

Kalderon: Frege's puzzle 1) the semantic content of an expression is exhausted by its reference [J.S. Mill] 2) Substitutivity principle. [Leibniz 1840: p. 94, "Things are equal which may be substituted for one another without change of truth [value]"] 3) No difference in cognitive value without a difference in semantic content. 4) "a=a" and "a=b" differ in cognitive value [a=a is analytic, a prior]. 5) "a" and "b" are coreferential. Frege solves this by denying (1).

Related Topics

Topic: meaning vs. reference (49 items)