Open AccessThe Conflict of Rigidity and Precision in Designation
Author(s) -
Daniele Bertini
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
logos and episteme
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.334
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 2069-3052
pISSN - 2069-0533
DOI - 10.5840/logos-episteme20201112
Subject(s) - referent , rigidity (electromagnetism) , proposition , epistemology , identity (music) , social psychology , psychology , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , structural engineering , engineering , aesthetics
My paper provides reasons in support of the view that vague identity claims originate from a conflict between rigidity and precision in designation. To put this stricly, let x be the referent of the referential terms P and Q. Then, that the proposition “that any x being both a P and a Q” is vague involves that the semantic intuitions at work in P and Q reveal a conflict between P and Q being simultaneously rigid and precise designators. After having shortly commented on an example of vague identity claim, I make the case for my proposal, by discussing how reference by baptism conflicts with descriptive attitudes towards understanding conceptual contents.