Question

Gottlob Frege, in his paper, “On Sense and Reference”, analyses the statements, ‘a = a’ and ‘a = b’, where the reference of ‘a’ is the same as that of ‘b’. Which among the following statement(s) correctly explain(s) his conception of sense and reference?

• A. Statements ‘a = a’ and ‘a = b’ have different cognitive values
• B. Statements ‘a = a’ and ‘a = b’ have the same truth value
• C. The sense of the statement ‘a = a’ is same as the sense of the statement ‘a = b’
• D. The judgments expressed by statements ‘a = a’ and ‘a = b’ are same

Hint:

In Frege's framework, "sense" deals with the mode of presentation, while "reference" refers to the object itself. Two sentences may have the same reference but different cognitive value if they have different senses.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A, B

Step 1: Understanding Frege's distinction between sense and reference. 
In his work, Frege distinguishes between the "sense" and "reference" of a term. The "reference" of a term is its actual object or the entity it refers to, while the "sense" refers to the mode of presentation of the object. 
Step 2: Cognitive value of the statements. 
(A) is correct. The statement ‘a = a’ is trivially true, providing no new information, while ‘a = b’ (where a ≠ b) provides new information, thus differing in cognitive value.
(B) is correct because both statements ‘a = a’ and ‘a = b’ have the same truth value when the reference of ‘a’ and ‘b’ are identical, even though their senses differ.
(C) is incorrect because the sense of ‘a = a’ is different from the sense of ‘a = b’. The sense involves the context and identity of the terms.
(D) is incorrect because the judgments differ in cognitive value due to the different contexts in which they are used.