YuHeng's blog

On Sense and Reference, Frege

Sign: Names, combination of words, letters. For example, points of intersection of a and b & points of intersection of b and c

Reference of the signs: what the signs refer to. What is designates. Points of intersection of a and b & points of intersection of b and c are different points that designate the same things. Here, sign ‘a’ and sign ‘b’ are distinguished only as object (by means of its shape), not as sign itself (the manner in which it designates something), so the “cognitive value of a=a becomes essentially equal to that of a=b, provided a=b is true. (Frege 57). 

Sense: where the mode of presentation is contained. The reference of the points of intersection of a and b & the points of intersection of b and c are the same, but not their sense. Similarly, “The reference of ‘evening star’ would be the same as that of ‘”morning star” (Venus), but not the sense” (Frege 57). 

Regular connexion: sign → sense → reference . However, to a given reference (object), there does not belong only a single sign. 

Sense does not always = reference. The words ‘the celestial body most distant from the Earth’ have a sense, but it is very doubtful if they also have a reference. 

“A proper name (word, sign, sign combination, expression) expresses its sense, stands for or designates its reference. By means of a sign we express its sense and designate its reference.” （61）