Philosophy of Language
Consider the following scenario: Smith has been found brutally murdered. The circumstances are so heinous that one of the detectives declares, "Smith's murderer is insane." Later Jones is arrested and charged with Smith's murder. At his trial, his odd behaviour prompts one of the court reporters to declare, "Smith's murderder is insane." But it turns out that Jones is not Smith's murderer.
1) Explain carefully why both a Direct Reference Theorist and a Sense Theorist such as Frege might have problems accounting for the two instances of one and the same sentence.
2) Many theorists hold that in the scenario both sentences are true. Provide a justification for why theorists might claim both sentences are true. Also, assuming that they are corrrect, describe the consequences for a theory of meaning, i.e. what would theorists have to say about the meaning of the sentence, "Smith's muderer is insane."?
Extra Directions: This assignment should be a minimum of 2 standardly formatted typewritten pages. There is no maximum length, but since I value precision, conciseness, and clarity, excess verbiage should be avoided.
Remember to pledge your assignment. Email submission is permissible.
Due: Tuesday, March 4th, at the beginning of class.
Value: 20 points