Is Superman a Sense or a Superhero?
| dc.contributor.author | Garro Rivero, Rodrigo Rafael | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Hoek, Daniel | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Trogdon, Kelly Griffith | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Sud, Rohan | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Philosophy | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-06-06T08:01:09Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2023-06-06T08:01:09Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-06-05 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This paper discusses the puzzle introduced by Jennifer Saul, which involves swapping coreferential proper names in simple sentences such as (1) Benito dresses as Clark Kent, and (1*) Benito dresses as Superman. While the traditional Frege's puzzle suggests that such substitutions do not change the truth value of a sentence, Saul's puzzle suggests otherwise. My paper explains Saul's proposed solution based on conversational implicatures and argues against it. Then I introduce a different solution called the Shifty-Fregean solution, which states that proper names in some contexts refer to their senses rather than the reference. The paper argues that this solution is better than Saul's and outlines a new approach to Saul's puzzle. The paper is divided into three sections. First, I will provide an overview of Saul's puzzle and Frege's puzzle. Second, I will discuss Saul's solution and its rejection. Finally, I will develop the Shifty-Fregean solution. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | This paper discusses the puzzle introduced by Jennifer Saul, which involves swapping coreferential proper names (i.e. names that refer to the same object) in simple sentences such as (1) Benito dresses as Clark Kent, and (1*) Benito dresses as Superman. While the traditional Frege's puzzle suggests that such substitutions do not change the truth value of a sentence, Saul's puzzle suggests that they do. My paper explains Saul's proposed solution based on conversational implicatures (i.e. inferences that speakers make based on the literal meaning and the context of the conversation) and argues against it. Then I introduce a different solution called the Shifty-Fregean solution, which states that proper names in some contexts refer to their senses rather than the reference. The paper argues that this solution is better than Saul's and outlines a new approach to Saul's puzzle. The paper is divided into three sections. First, I will provide an overview of Saul's puzzle and Frege's puzzle. Second, I will discuss Saul's solution and its rejection. Finally, I will develop the Shifty-Fregean solution. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Arts | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:37099 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/115333 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Frege's puzzle | en |
| dc.subject | coreferring names | en |
| dc.subject | senses | en |
| dc.subject | conversational implicatures | en |
| dc.title | Is Superman a Sense or a Superhero? | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Philosophy | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts | en |