Making Sense of Indexicals

Abstract

The article deals with whether or not indexical terms can have a Fregean Sense. The answer to this question is bound up with an analysis of what a Fregean Sense "is". The paper defends and extendsan interpretation given by Gareth Evans ("Understanding Demonstratives") that a Sense is a way of thinking about a referent', on which interpretation indexicals may have a Sense. However, the interpretation entails that all meaningful propositions must be about particular objects, and that the ability to make sense (to grasp thoughts) requires of the language user very specific epistemological competencies and connections to the world.