Millian semantics
E883401
Millian semantics is a theory of meaning in philosophy of language that holds that the meaning of a proper name is nothing more than its referent, without any associated descriptive content.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Millian semantics canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T10729280 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Millian semantics Context triple: [Fregean semantics, contrastedWith, Millian semantics]
-
A.
Fregean semantics
Fregean semantics is a theory of meaning in philosophy of language that distinguishes between the sense (Sinn) and reference (Bedeutung) of linguistic expressions to explain how terms can be cognitively significant even when they refer to the same object.
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B.
Minimalist semantics
Minimalist semantics is a theoretical approach in linguistics that aligns semantic interpretation with the Minimalist Program in syntax, aiming to explain meaning using the simplest and most economical grammatical structures.
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C.
On Sense and Reference
On Sense and Reference is a seminal philosophical essay by Gottlob Frege that distinguishes between the sense (meaning) and reference (denotation) of linguistic expressions, profoundly influencing analytic philosophy and the philosophy of language.
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D.
The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy
The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy is a posthumously published work by philosopher Friedrich Waismann that develops a detailed, Wittgenstein-influenced approach to understanding philosophical problems through the analysis of ordinary language.
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E.
The Varieties of Reference
The Varieties of Reference is a highly influential work of analytic philosophy in which Gareth Evans develops a detailed theory of reference, perception, and singular thought.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Millian semantics Target entity description: Millian semantics is a theory of meaning in philosophy of language that holds that the meaning of a proper name is nothing more than its referent, without any associated descriptive content.
-
A.
Fregean semantics
Fregean semantics is a theory of meaning in philosophy of language that distinguishes between the sense (Sinn) and reference (Bedeutung) of linguistic expressions to explain how terms can be cognitively significant even when they refer to the same object.
-
B.
Minimalist semantics
Minimalist semantics is a theoretical approach in linguistics that aligns semantic interpretation with the Minimalist Program in syntax, aiming to explain meaning using the simplest and most economical grammatical structures.
-
C.
On Sense and Reference
On Sense and Reference is a seminal philosophical essay by Gottlob Frege that distinguishes between the sense (meaning) and reference (denotation) of linguistic expressions, profoundly influencing analytic philosophy and the philosophy of language.
-
D.
The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy
The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy is a posthumously published work by philosopher Friedrich Waismann that develops a detailed, Wittgenstein-influenced approach to understanding philosophical problems through the analysis of ordinary language.
-
E.
The Varieties of Reference
The Varieties of Reference is a highly influential work of analytic philosophy in which Gareth Evans develops a detailed theory of reference, perception, and singular thought.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
referential theory of names
ⓘ
theory of meaning ⓘ view in philosophy of language ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Millianism
ⓘ
the direct-reference theory of proper names ⓘ |
| appliesTo | proper names ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
David Kaplan
ⓘ
Keith Donnellan ⓘ Nathan Salmon ⓘ Scott Soames ⓘ |
| basedOnWorkOf | John Stuart Mill ⓘ |
| claimsAbout |
relationship between meaning and reference
ⓘ
semantic content of proper names ⓘ |
| compatibleWith | Kripke’s arguments against descriptivism ⓘ |
| contrastsWith |
Fregean semantics
ⓘ
descriptivist theories of reference ⓘ sense-reference theories of names ⓘ |
| coreClaim |
co-referential proper names have the same semantic content
ⓘ
proper names lack descriptive content in their semantic value ⓘ the meaning of a proper name is its referent ⓘ |
| denies |
descriptivist theories of proper names
ⓘ
that proper names have associated descriptive senses ⓘ |
| entails |
that names are rigid designators in many formulations
ⓘ
that the semantic content of a name is an object ⓘ |
| evaluatedUsing |
attitude-report data
ⓘ
informative identity statements ⓘ modal arguments ⓘ |
| facesProblem |
Frege’s puzzle about informative identity statements
ⓘ
substitution failures in propositional attitude contexts ⓘ the problem of cognitive significance ⓘ |
| historicalSource | John Stuart Mill’s distinction between denotation and connotation ⓘ |
| implies |
that sentences differing only in co-referential names express the same proposition
ⓘ
that the proposition expressed by a simple name-involving sentence is singular ⓘ |
| influenced |
contemporary direct-reference theories
ⓘ
neo-Russellian theories of propositions ⓘ |
| influencedBy | John Stuart Mill’s view that proper names have denotation without connotation ⓘ |
| inTensionWith |
Fregean sense theory
ⓘ
some cognitive and psychological accounts of meaning ⓘ |
| oftenCombinedWith |
a Russellian view of propositions
ⓘ
a direct-reference account of indexicals and demonstratives ⓘ |
| rejects | that names encode descriptive modes of presentation ⓘ |
| supports | direct reference ⓘ |
| topicIn |
analytic philosophy
ⓘ
formal semantics of natural language ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ |
| usedInDebate |
about the nature of propositions
ⓘ
about the semantics of attitude ascriptions ⓘ about the semantics of belief reports ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Millian semantics Description of subject: Millian semantics is a theory of meaning in philosophy of language that holds that the meaning of a proper name is nothing more than its referent, without any associated descriptive content.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.