Denoting Concepts, Reference, and The Logic of Names, Classes as Many, Groups, and Plurals?*.

BertrandRussellintroducedseveralnovelideasinhis1903PrinciplesofMathematicsthathelatergaveupandneverwentbacktoinhissubsequentwork.Twoofthesearetherelatednotionsofdenotingconceptsandclassesasmany.Inthispaperwereconstructeachofthesenotionsintheframeworkofconceptualrealismandconnectthemthroughalogicofna...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Linguistics & Philosophy Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 135 - 180
Autor principal: COCCHIARELLA, NINO
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Apr2005
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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Sumario:BertrandRussellintroducedseveralnovelideasinhis1903PrinciplesofMathematicsthathelatergaveupandneverwentbacktoinhissubsequentwork.Twoofthesearetherelatednotionsofdenotingconceptsandclassesasmany.Inthispaperwereconstructeachofthesenotionsintheframeworkofconceptualrealismandconnectthemthroughalogicofnamesthatencompassesbothproperandcommonnames,andamongthelatter,complexaswellassimplecommonnames.Names,properorcommon,andsimpleorcomplex,occuraspartsofquanti?erphrases,whichinconceptualrealismstandforreferentialconcepts,i.e.,cognitivecapacitiesthatinformourspeechandmentalactswithareferentialnatureandaccountfortheintentionality,ordirectedness,ofthoseacts.InRussell’stheory,quanti?erphrasesexpressdenotingconcepts(whichdonotincludepropernames).Inconceptualrealism,names,aswellaspredicates,canbenominalizedandallowedtooccuras”singularterms”,i.e.,asargumentsofpredicates.Occurringasasingularterm,anamedenotes,ifitdenotesatall,aclassasmany,where,asinRussell’stheory,aclassasmanyofoneobjectisidenticalwiththatoneobject,andaclassasmanyofmorethanoneobjectisaplurality,i.e.,apluralobjectthatwecallagroup.Also,asinRussell’stheory,thereisnoemptyclassasmany.Whennominalized,propernamesfunctionas”singularterms”justthewaytheydoinso-calledfreelogic.LeSniewski’sontology,whichisalsocalledalogicofnamescanbecompletelyinterpretedwithinthisconceptualistframework,andthewell-knownodditiesofLesniewski’ssystemareshownnottobeoddatallwhenhissystemissointerpreted.Finally,weshowhowthepluralities,orgroups,ofthelogicofclassesasmanycanbeusedasthesemanticbasisofpluralreferenceandpredication.WeexplaininthiswayRussell’s”fundamentaldoctrineuponwhichallrests”,i.e.,”thedoctrinethatthesubjectofapropositionmaybeplural,andthatsuchpluralsubjectsarewhatismeantbyclasses[asmany]whichhavemorethanoneterm”(Russell1938,p.517).