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The Picture

What are the facts to be explained?

In order of appearance ...

1. This utterance of ‘Ayesha smells’ depends for its truth on how Ayesha is, unlike that utterance of ‘Beatrice smells’. Why?

2. This utterance of ‘Charly is Charly’ was less revelatory than that utterance of ‘Charly is Samantha’. Why?

3. Humans successfully achieve ends by uttering words. How?

4. Communicators can know, sometimes, whether they are understanding. How?

5. Utterers make rational, voluntary use of some regularites while merely conforming to others. How is this possible?

Facts to be explained (in order of appearance): \begin{enumerate} \item This utterance of ‘Ayesha smells’ depends for its truth on how Ayesha is, unlike that utterance of ‘Beatrice smells’. Why? \item This utterance of ‘Charly is Charly’ was less revelatory than that utterance of ‘Charly is Samantha’. Why? \item Humans successfully achieve ends by uttering words. How? \item Communicators can know, sometimes, whether they are understanding. How? \item Utterers make rational, voluntary use of some regularites while merely conforming to others. How is this possible? \end{enumerate}

The Picture

#1 ∴ there is a word-thing relation; call it ‘reference’.

Reference, if it exists, must explain #1 and #3.

#2 ∴ meaning isn’t only reference; call the aspect which explains #2 ‘sense’.

Knowledge of reference, if it exists must explain #4 and #5.

The sense of an utterance is what you know when you have knowledge of reference.

Sometimes the sense of an utterance is a description.

But not always.

Sometimes the sense of an utterance is individuated by an act of attention.

conclusion: some senses are descriptions, others are modes of acquaintance.

Anything fundamental about the acquaintances? Massive reduplication ...