From The Begriffsschrift To "Über Sinn Und Bedeutung": Frege As Epistemologist And Ontologist

ABSTRACT Frege presents the eponymous distinction of "Über Sinn und Bedeutung" (USB) as a correction to the theory of identity he held in the Begriffsschrift.1 His retrospective assessment has prompted different reactions from commentators. Many have simply taken him at his word.2 Others, who have lingered over the relevant texts, have encountered a difficulty: in the Begriffsschrift Frege appears to raise the same problem with which he begins USB and to respond to it in words that are strikingly similar to those found in the later work.3 Thus, a number of important scholars have been led to ...