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Names of Truth Bearers, and “That”‐Clauses: A Dilemma for Millians
Author(s) -
Bonardi Paolo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1755-2567
pISSN - 0040-5825
DOI - 10.1111/theo.12128
Subject(s) - dilemma , referent , logical truth , philosophy , content (measure theory) , doctrine , linguistics , proper noun , expression (computer science) , epistemology , semantic theory of truth , lying , computer science , mathematics , theology , medicine , mathematical analysis , radiology , programming language
Millianism is the doctrine according to which the semantic content of a proper name is exhausted by its referent. This article raises and attempts to solve a dilemma for Millians: either a proper name of a truth bearer is in turn a truth bearer (which seems inadmissible); or having a truth bearer as semantic content is not sufficient for a linguistic expression to be a truth bearer (but then what is required for such a purpose?). As it will be shown in the manuscript, the dilemma does not arise with “that”‐clauses in the place of proper names, if “that”‐clauses are taken to be non‐Millian designators whose semantic content is not a truth bearer. An account of “that”‐clauses having such features and originating with Salmon, Frege's Puzzle , will be defended.