Assertion: expression's content | /r/CapableOf | determine reference
Facets:
value: for subsentential expressions
type: OTHER
value: for each circumstance of evaluation
type: PURPOSE
value: for sentences
type: PURPOSE
value: for the expression
type: PURPOSE
Source sentences:
text: I” a single content which determines a reference for the expression, since the expression has a different reference in different situations.
text: So we know that expressions are associated with characters, which are functions from contexts to contents; and we know that contents are things which, for each circumstance of evaluation, determine a reference.
text: The foregoing suggests a pleasingly minimalist answer to this question: perhaps, since contents are things which together with circumstances of evaluation determine a reference, contents just are functions from circumstances of evaluation to a reference.
text: But this is what we argued above to be impossible; hence there could be no pair of expressions like e and e*, and content must determine reference for subsentential expressions as well as sentences.
text: This result—that content determines reference—explains one thing we should, plausibly, want a semantic theory to do: it should assign to each expression some value—a content—which determines a reference for that expression.