Frege's Choice

The Indefinability Argument, Truth, and the Fregean Conception of Judgment

Authors

  • Junyeol Kim University of Connecticut

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v9i5.4337

Abstract

I develop a new reading of Frege’s argument for the indefinability of truth. I concentrate on what Frege literally says in the passage that contains the argument. This literal reading of the passage establishes that the indefinability argument is an arguably sound argument to the following conclusion: provided that the Fregean conception of judgment—which has recently been countered by Hanks—is correct and that truth is a property of truth-bearers, a vicious infinite regress is produced. Given this vicious regress, Frege chooses to reject that truth is a property of truth-bearers. Frege’s choice leads to a unique version of the Fregean conception of judgment. His unique conception of judgment can cope with Hanks’s recent criticisms against the Fregean conception.

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Published

2021-05-28