This book is an analysis of Frege’s views on language and metaphysics raised in “On Sense and Reference,” arguably one of the most important philosophical essays of the past hundred years. It provides a thorough introduction to the function/argument analysis and applies Frege’s technique to the central notions of predication, identity, existence, and truth. Of particular interest is the analysis of the Paradox of Identity and a discussion of three solutions: the little-known Begriffsschrift solution, the sense/reference solution, and Russell’s “On Denoting” solution. Russell’s views wend their way through the work, serving as a foil to Frege. Appendixes give the proofs of the first sixty-eight propositions of Begriffsschrift in modern notation.
This book will be of interest to students and professionals in philosophy and linguistics.
Richard L. Mendelsohn is Professor of Philosophy at Lehman College and the Graduate School, the City University of New York.