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Millianism, Empty Names and The No-Proposition View

Year 2023, Issue: 20, 136 - 150, 15.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1344887

Abstract

Millianism fundamentally holds that the semantic content of a proper name is its referent. Respectively, it implies that an empty name has no semantic content. Given an orthodox sense of proposition-talk and the Fregean principle of compositionality, Millianism further entails a disputable view on the semantics of empty-name sentences- namely, the No-Proposition View (NPV)- which states that empty-name sentences express no proposition. Thereby, NPV further indicates that empty-name sentences fail to convey meaningful, truth-evaluable, and distinguishable contents. However, as commonly discussed, such a semantic construal of empty-name sentences seemingly contradicts our linguistic intuitions about empty-name sentences such as ‘Santa is Santa,’ ‘Santa doesn’t exist,’ and ‘Sherlock doesn’t exist’. This paper provides an extensive analysis of Millianism and NPV in the face of the semantic puzzles concerning the fundamental convictions behind NPV. In doing so, the paper intends to disclose the convictions leading Millianism to NPV so that it seeks to show how to rescue Millianism from the semantic puzzles in question. As a result, the paper concludes that NPV does not necessarily follow from a Millian thesis about the semantic value of proper names. Instead, it follows from certain convictions about the genuineness of proper names, the plausibility of non-referring names, the nature of propositions, and so on. As exemplified throughout the paper, it is thus fair to divorce Millianism from NPV by reconstruing the relevant convictions in one way or another.

References

  • Adams, Fred and Gary Fuller. “Empty Names and Pragmatic Implicatures,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37, (2007/3): 449-461.
  • Adams, Fred and Laura Dietrich. “What’s in a (n Empty) Name?,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 85, (2004): 125-148.
  • Adams, Fred and Robert Stecker. “Vacuous Singular Terms,” Mind and Language 9, (1994): 387-401.
  • Adams, Fred, Gary Fuller and Robert Stecker. “The Semantics of Fictional Names,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 78, (1997): 128-148.
  • Braun, David. “Empty Names, Fictional Names, Mythical Names,” Noûs 39, (2005): 596-631.
  • Braun, David. “Empty Names,” Nous 27, (1993): 449-469.
  • Donnellan, Keith. “Proper Names and Identifying Descriptions,” Synthese 21, (1970): 335-358.
  • Donnellan, Keith. “Speaking of Nothing,” Philosophical Review 83, (1974): 3-31.
  • Everett, Anthony. “Empty Names and 'Gappy' Propositions,” Philosophical Studies 116, (2003): 1-36.
  • Everett, Anthony. “Referentialism and Empty Names” in Empty Names, Fiction, and the Puzzles of Non-existence, Eds.: A. Everett and T. Hofweber, 37-60. Standford: CSLI Publications, 2000.
  • Frege, Gottlob. “On Sense and Reference” in Translations from the philosophical writings of Gottlob Frege, Eds.: P. Geach and M. Black, 56-78. Blackwell, 1960.
  • Green, S. Mitchell. “Direct Reference, Empty Names and Implicatures,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37, (2007): 419-48.
  • Kaplan, David. “Demonstratives” in Themes from Kaplan, Eds.: J. Almog, J. Perry and H. Wettstein, 481-563. Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • Keller, Lorraine. “Propositions without Parts” in The Routledge Handbook of Propositions, Eds.: C. Tillman and A. Murray, 320-333. Routledge, 2022.
  • Kripke, Saul. Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press, 1980.
  • Mill, John Stuart. A system of logic, ratiocinative and inductive: Being a connected view of the principles of evidence, and the methods of scientific investigation. London, England: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1843.
  • Mousavian, N. Seyed. “The Varieties of Gappy Propositions” in The Routledge Handbook of Propositions, Eds.: C. Tillman and A. Murray, 437-460. Routledge, 2022.
  • Mousavian, N. Seyed. “Gappy Propositions?,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 41, (2011/1): 125-157.
  • Piccinini, Gualtiero and Sam Scott. “Recovering What is Said with Empty Names,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 40, (2010/2): 239-274.
  • Reimer, Marga. “Empty Names: Communicative Value without Semantic Value,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74, (2007/3): 738-747.
  • Reimer, Marga. “The Problem of Empty Names,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 79, (2001): 491-506. Russell, Bertrand. “On denoting,” Mind 14, (1905/4): 479-493.
  • Sainsbury, Mark. Reference without Referents. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Salmon, Nathan. “Nonexistence,” Nous 32, (1998): 277-319.
  • Searle R. John. “Proper Names,” Mind 67, (1958): 166-173.
  • Van Inwagen, Peter. “Creatures of Fiction,” American Philosophical Quarterly 14, (1977): 299-308.

Millianizm, Boş İsimler Ve Önerme-Yok Görüşü

Year 2023, Issue: 20, 136 - 150, 15.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1344887

Abstract

Millianizm; özel isimlerin semantik içeriklerinin bu isimlerin göndergeleri olduğunu söyler. Buna göre, göndergeden yoksun özel isimlerin -yani, boş isimlerin- semantik içerikleri yoktur. Önermelere dair standart söylev ile Fregeci bileşimsellik ilkesi emniyetli kabuller olarak varsayıldığında; Millianizm, boş-isim tümceleri hakkında (yani boş isimleri kategorematik öğeler olarak biçmen içeren düzgün kurallı tümceler hakkında) genellikle “Önerme-Yok Görüşü” (ÖYG) olarak adlandırılan şu görüşe eklemlenir: Boş isim tümceleri önerme ifade etmez. Bu görüşün sonucu olarak boş-isim tümceleri anlamlı, doğruluk-koşulsal ve ayırt edilebilir içerikler aktaramaz. Sıklıkla tartışıldığı üzere, bu sonuçlar dilsel sezgilerimizle ters düşmektedir; çünkü ‘Noel Baba yoktur’, ‘Sherlock Holmes yoktur’ ve ‘Noel Baba, Noel Baba’dır’ gibi tümceler semantik olarak anlamlı, doğruluk-koşulsal ve birbirlerinden ayırt edilebilir görünmektedir. Bu makale, Millianizm ile ilişkilendirilen ÖYG’nin yüzleştiği üç temel semantik sorunu (Anlam Sorunu, Doğruluk Sorunu ve Ayırt-edilebilirlik Sorunu) ile bu sorunların arkasında yatan temel kabulleri tahlil edecektir. Bu tahlillere göre, Millianizm- özel isimlere dair doğrudan göndergeci semantik bir teori olarak- ÖYG’yi zorunlu olarak gerektirmez; çünkü, ÖYG özel isimlerin gönderimsel işlev ve semantik değerlerine dair bir görüşün tekil ve mantıksal bir sonucu olmaktan ziyade boş isim, önerme ve bileşimsellik kavramlarına dair spesifik kabullerin müşterek bir sonucudur. Nitekim makalede örnekleneceği üzere; boş isimler, önermeler ve bileşimsellik kavramlarına dair farklı kabuller benimsemek Millianizmi ÖYG’nin getirdiği semantik sorunsallardan uzaklaştırmaktadır- öyle ki, pek çok filozof için bu kavramlara dair yeni yaklaşımlar sunmak Millianizmi ÖYG kaynaklı semantik sorunlara karşı savunmak için erişilebilir bir strateji haline gelmiştir.

References

  • Adams, Fred and Gary Fuller. “Empty Names and Pragmatic Implicatures,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37, (2007/3): 449-461.
  • Adams, Fred and Laura Dietrich. “What’s in a (n Empty) Name?,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 85, (2004): 125-148.
  • Adams, Fred and Robert Stecker. “Vacuous Singular Terms,” Mind and Language 9, (1994): 387-401.
  • Adams, Fred, Gary Fuller and Robert Stecker. “The Semantics of Fictional Names,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 78, (1997): 128-148.
  • Braun, David. “Empty Names, Fictional Names, Mythical Names,” Noûs 39, (2005): 596-631.
  • Braun, David. “Empty Names,” Nous 27, (1993): 449-469.
  • Donnellan, Keith. “Proper Names and Identifying Descriptions,” Synthese 21, (1970): 335-358.
  • Donnellan, Keith. “Speaking of Nothing,” Philosophical Review 83, (1974): 3-31.
  • Everett, Anthony. “Empty Names and 'Gappy' Propositions,” Philosophical Studies 116, (2003): 1-36.
  • Everett, Anthony. “Referentialism and Empty Names” in Empty Names, Fiction, and the Puzzles of Non-existence, Eds.: A. Everett and T. Hofweber, 37-60. Standford: CSLI Publications, 2000.
  • Frege, Gottlob. “On Sense and Reference” in Translations from the philosophical writings of Gottlob Frege, Eds.: P. Geach and M. Black, 56-78. Blackwell, 1960.
  • Green, S. Mitchell. “Direct Reference, Empty Names and Implicatures,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37, (2007): 419-48.
  • Kaplan, David. “Demonstratives” in Themes from Kaplan, Eds.: J. Almog, J. Perry and H. Wettstein, 481-563. Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • Keller, Lorraine. “Propositions without Parts” in The Routledge Handbook of Propositions, Eds.: C. Tillman and A. Murray, 320-333. Routledge, 2022.
  • Kripke, Saul. Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press, 1980.
  • Mill, John Stuart. A system of logic, ratiocinative and inductive: Being a connected view of the principles of evidence, and the methods of scientific investigation. London, England: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1843.
  • Mousavian, N. Seyed. “The Varieties of Gappy Propositions” in The Routledge Handbook of Propositions, Eds.: C. Tillman and A. Murray, 437-460. Routledge, 2022.
  • Mousavian, N. Seyed. “Gappy Propositions?,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 41, (2011/1): 125-157.
  • Piccinini, Gualtiero and Sam Scott. “Recovering What is Said with Empty Names,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 40, (2010/2): 239-274.
  • Reimer, Marga. “Empty Names: Communicative Value without Semantic Value,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74, (2007/3): 738-747.
  • Reimer, Marga. “The Problem of Empty Names,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 79, (2001): 491-506. Russell, Bertrand. “On denoting,” Mind 14, (1905/4): 479-493.
  • Sainsbury, Mark. Reference without Referents. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Salmon, Nathan. “Nonexistence,” Nous 32, (1998): 277-319.
  • Searle R. John. “Proper Names,” Mind 67, (1958): 166-173.
  • Van Inwagen, Peter. “Creatures of Fiction,” American Philosophical Quarterly 14, (1977): 299-308.
There are 25 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Philosophy of Language
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Mustafa Polat 0000-0002-8745-3576

Publication Date December 15, 2023
Submission Date August 17, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: 20

Cite

Chicago Polat, Mustafa. “Millianism, Empty Names and The No-Proposition View”. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi, no. 20 (December 2023): 136-50. https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1344887.