essay "Reference and Modality"
E382731
"Reference and Modality" is a seminal philosophical essay by W.V.O. Quine that critically examines the notions of reference, necessity, and modal logic within analytic philosophy.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| essay "Reference and Modality" canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3716103 — 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: essay "Reference and Modality" Context triple: [From a Logical Point of View, hasPart, essay "Reference and Modality"]
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A.
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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B.
Semantical Considerations on Modal Logic
Semantical Considerations on Modal Logic is a landmark philosophical paper by Saul Kripke that helped found possible-worlds semantics and revolutionized the study of modal logic.
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C.
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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D.
The Meaning of Meaning
The Meaning of Meaning is a seminal 1923 work in semantics and the philosophy of language by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards that explores how language, symbols, and thought are related.
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E.
How to Do Things with Words
How to Do Things with Words is a foundational work in 20th-century philosophy of language by J. L. Austin that introduced speech act theory and transformed understandings of how language functions in practice.
- 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: essay "Reference and Modality" Target entity description: "Reference and Modality" is a seminal philosophical essay by W.V.O. Quine that critically examines the notions of reference, necessity, and modal logic within analytic philosophy.
-
A.
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.
-
B.
Semantical Considerations on Modal Logic
Semantical Considerations on Modal Logic is a landmark philosophical paper by Saul Kripke that helped found possible-worlds semantics and revolutionized the study of modal logic.
-
C.
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.
-
D.
The Meaning of Meaning
The Meaning of Meaning is a seminal 1923 work in semantics and the philosophy of language by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards that explores how language, symbols, and thought are related.
-
E.
How to Do Things with Words
How to Do Things with Words is a foundational work in 20th-century philosophy of language by J. L. Austin that introduced speech act theory and transformed understandings of how language functions in practice.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
academic article
ⓘ
philosophical essay ⓘ |
| author |
Willard Van Orman Quine
ⓘ
surface form:
W.V.O. Quine
Willard Van Orman Quine ⓘ |
| concerns |
logical form of modal statements
ⓘ
relation between reference and necessity ⓘ status of essentialist claims ⓘ |
| criticizes |
essentialist readings of modality
ⓘ
modal logic ⓘ quantification into modal contexts ⓘ |
| era | 20th-century philosophy ⓘ |
| field |
analytic philosophy
ⓘ
philosophical logic ⓘ philosophy ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ |
| genre | analytic philosophy essay ⓘ |
| hasConcept |
opaque context
ⓘ
referential opacity ⓘ substitution failure in modal contexts ⓘ |
| influenced |
David Lewis
ⓘ
Ruth Barcan Marcus ⓘ Saul Kripke ⓘ contemporary modal logic debates ⓘ philosophy of language in the 20th century ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
de dicto modality
ⓘ
de re modality ⓘ essentialism ⓘ intensional contexts ⓘ modal logic ⓘ modality ⓘ necessity ⓘ quantification ⓘ reference ⓘ substitutivity of identicals ⓘ |
| notableFor |
challenge to quantification into opaque contexts
ⓘ
critical examination of necessity ⓘ impact on discussions of de re and de dicto modality ⓘ |
| philosophicalPositionExpressed |
preference for extensional languages
ⓘ
skepticism about modal notions ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition |
logical empiricism
ⓘ
naturalized epistemology ⓘ |
| relatedWork |
“Two Dogmas of Empiricism”
ⓘ
surface form:
Two Dogmas of Empiricism
Word and Object ⓘ |
| supportsView |
extensionality in logic
ⓘ
suspicion of intensional notions ⓘ |
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: essay "Reference and Modality" Description of subject: "Reference and Modality" is a seminal philosophical essay by W.V.O. Quine that critically examines the notions of reference, necessity, and modal logic within analytic philosophy.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.