http://glottopedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=De_dicto_and_de_re 2026-04-22T15:40:39Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.34.2 http://glottopedia.org/index.php?title=De_dicto_and_de_re&diff=17698&oldid=prev 2021-02-08T01:40:35Z

<p>discuss the general distinction between the two readings, added topics for further sections that are relevant (e.g. the scope ambiguity theory) and also &#039;de se&#039; readings, added links and a few references</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{stub}}<br /> <br /> ==Definition==<br /> <br /> The terms ''de re'' (Latin: &quot;about the thing&quot;) and ''de dicto'' (Latin: &quot;about what is said&quot;) refer to two distinct interpretations of Noun Phrases that emerge in [[Intension|intensional]] environments involving a participant's knowledge or belief states about a [[proposition]] (also known as [[propositional attitude reports]]). A classic example from Quine (1956) is (i), which displays the two readings.<br /> <br /> (i) Ralph believes that someone is a spy.<br /> ''de re'' reading: Ralph believes of somebody x that x is a spy.<br /> ''de dicto'' reading: Ralph believes that there is a spy, though he doesn't know who in particular it is.<br /> <br /> The ''de re'' reading of (i) states that Ralph has a belief about a particular person being a spy. For example if Ralph observes his coworker Hubert making photocopies of top-secret documents, (i) would be appropriately used because Ralph believes that someone (namely Hubert) is a spy. The ''de dicto'' reading is a statement about the subject's beliefs about the more general existence of a spy. For example, if Ralph has not directly observed behavior indicative of spying, but has suspicions that there is a spy in his midst (e.g. if the enemy intelligence agency is consistently receiving top-secret intelligence information), then (i) would describe Ralph's beliefs ''de dicto'' that somebody is a spy.<br /> <br /> (ii) Estefan thinks a dog bit him.<br /> ''de re'' reading: Estefan believes he was bitten by Fido.<br /> ''de dicto'' reading: Estefan believes he was bitten by some dog (or other)<br /> <br /> ==Scope Ambiguity Theory==<br /> <br /> ==''de se''==<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> ===Links===<br /> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_dicto_and_de_re Wikipedia]&lt;br&gt;<br /> [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prop-attitude-reports/dere.html Stanford Encyclopedia Entry]<br /> <br /> ===References===<br /> <br /> Cresswell, Maxwell J. and Arnim von Stechow. 1982. &quot;''De re''&quot; belief generalized. ''Linguistics and Philosophy'' (5: 505-535)&lt;br&gt;<br /> Kaplan, David. 1969. &quot;Quantifying in&quot; ''Synthese'' (19: 178-214) &lt;br&gt;<br /> Lewis, David. 1979. &quot;Attitudes de dicto and de se&quot;. ''The Philosophical Review'' (88: 513-543) &lt;br&gt;<br /> Quine, W. V. 1956. &quot;Quantifiers and Propositional Attitudes&quot;, ''The Journal of Philosophy'' (53: 177-187) <br /> &lt;!-- Romoli, Jacopo &amp; Yautada Sudo. 2009. &quot;''De Re/De Dicto''&quot; Ambiguity and Presupposition Projection. In Riester, Arndt &amp; Torgrim Solstad (eds.). ''Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 13''&lt;br&gt; --&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:En]]<br /> [[Category:SURV]]<br /> [[Category:Semantics]]</div>

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