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Reference vs. Sense in Language

Reference refers to what an expression stands for, while sense refers to how the reference is presented. In the examples "the morning star is the morning star" and "the morning star is the evening star", both expressions refer to the planet Venus but have different senses - the morning star refers to seeing it in the morning, while the evening star refers to seeing it in the evening. Expressions can have a sense without a reference if the referent is unknown, but if two expressions have the same sense, they must also have the same reference, while expressions with the same reference can have different senses.

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Tanveer Akram
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35 views1 page

Reference vs. Sense in Language

Reference refers to what an expression stands for, while sense refers to how the reference is presented. In the examples "the morning star is the morning star" and "the morning star is the evening star", both expressions refer to the planet Venus but have different senses - the morning star refers to seeing it in the morning, while the evening star refers to seeing it in the evening. Expressions can have a sense without a reference if the referent is unknown, but if two expressions have the same sense, they must also have the same reference, while expressions with the same reference can have different senses.

Uploaded by

Tanveer Akram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reference and sense

The reference of an expression is what it stands for on a given


occasion of its use. The sense of an expression is the way the
reference is presented. A thought, the proposition, the information
content grasped in understanding a sentence. But senses are not
subjective, differing from one person to the next. We share
senses.
a. The morning star is the morning star
b. The morning star is the evening star
Both the morning star and the evening star pick out the same
entity, Venus, and so have the same reference. But they have
different senses. the morning star = the star you see in the
morning at time 1 at latitude 1; the evening star = the star you
see in the evening at time 2 latitude 2.
So in (1a), reference and sense coincide: The expressions on both
sides of the copula have the same reference and sense. In (1b)
the two expressions have the same reference but a different
sense. Expressions can have a sense, but no reference. One can
know what an expression means but not know its reference, e.g,
the star furthest from the earth.
But expressions which have the same sense must have the same
reference, while expressions with the same reference may have
different senses.

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