The Referential Theory of Meaning

Question 1

What is a semantic theory, and what questions does it address?

Answer 1

1. A semantic theory is one which assigns semantic contents to expressions of a language
2. What are the literal meanings of simple (atomic) and complex (non-atomic) expressions of a given language, e.g. English?
3. What explains our capacity to this kind of meaning?

Question 2

What is a foundational theory of meaning, and what questions does it address?

Answer 2

1. A foundational theory of meaning is a theory which states the facts in virtue of which expressions have the semantic contents that they have
2. For example, why does the word ‘giraffe’ refer to the specific kind of animal that it does?

Question 3

What question does a pragmatic theory address?

Answer 3

1. What is non-literal meaning and what are the general
   principles that enable understanding of non-literal
   meaning?

Question 4

What is the referential theory of meaning?

Answer 4

According to this theory, the meaning of an expression (simple or complex) is simply its reference

Question 5

What is sense?

Answer 5

Sense is something possessed by a name, whether or not it has a reference. For example, the name “Odysseus” is intelligible, and therefore has a sense, even though there is no individual object (its reference) to which the name corresponds.

Question 6

What is reference?

Answer 6

Reference is a unique and real entity that an expression represents.

Question 7

How can a finite set of words be used to produce a potentially infinite number of
sentences?

Answer 7

Because language is recursive. Recursion is a special kind of repeatable process that occurs when something is
defined in terms of itself or its own type.

Question 8

According to Frege, what is the reference of a complete sentence?

Answer 8

The reference of a sentence is a truth value.

Question 9

Sum up of Referential Theory of Meaning

Answer 9

1. The referential theory of meaning provides a simple analysis of meaning in terms of reference.
2. While the reference of a sentence is its truth value, to understand the meaning of the sentence one must merely understand its truth conditions
3. Finally the referential theory of meaning delivers a way of computing the meaning (the truth conditions) of complete sentences from the meanings of its constituents

Question 10

What is a truth condition?

Answer 10

A truth condition is the condition under which the sentence is true. “It is snowing in Nebraska” is true precisely when it is snowing in Nebraska.

Question 11

What is a truth value?

Answer 11

A truth value is the attribute assigned to a proposition in respect of its truth or falsehood, which in classical logic has only two possible values (true or false).