Tuesday, May 17th, 2022. 9:30 am.
Venue: Taller de docencia (Carlos Santamaria).
Frege's doctrines on sense (Sinn): the case of verbal tense and temporal expressions
María Cerezo (Complutense University of Madrid)
Abstract:
In this talk I will offer an interpretation of Frege's semantic doctrines and of their evolution from the Begriffschrift to Der Gedanke. Special attention will be paid to the evolution of the notion of sense (Sinn) and the role of context in Frege's doctrines. I will also try to point out some tensions in Frege's conception of semantic relations. My strategy will be to focus on the way in which Frege conceives of temporal expressions (tense, temporal indexicals, and so on), reference to time and time as part of the expression of thought. Ultimately, I intend to show that the difficulties raised by these expressions are merely a particular instance/s of more general problems in Frege's doctrines. Some samples of recent literature on Frege's views on temporal indexicals will also be discussed.
On theoretical and observational terms in Putnam’s theory
Luis Fernández Moreno (Complutense University of Madrid)
Abstract:
A usual objection put forward against some versions of the causal theory of reference is that it cannot explain the reference changes that terms may undergo. Hilary Putnam is considered as one of the main advocates of that theory. In this talk I will focus on the classic formulation of Putnam’s theory, contained in his articles of the first half of the seventies of the last century, and I will examine the question as to whether Putnam’s theory makes reference change possible. On this matter I will take into consideration the reference of theoretical and observational terms.