Abstract
I shall first investigate whether ‘God’ is a proper name, for if the answer to this question is in the affirmative then sentences of the form ‘God is F’ can be said to express propositions of a subject-predicate type, for whilst it is not a necessary condition of an expression being able to occur as a logical subject, introducing a subject of predication, that such an expression is a proper name, it is a sufficient condition.
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Notes and References
Cf. P. T. Geach, ‘Good and Evil’, Analysis vol. 17 (1956) pp. 34–42.
G. E. M. Anscombe and P. T. Geach, Three Philosophers (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1961) p. 8.
P. T. Geach, Reference and Generality ( Cornell University Press, New York, 1962 ) p. 39.
G. E. M. Anscombe, An Introduction to Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. (Hutchinson University Library, London, 1959) p. 41.
See ‘On Denoting’ reprinted in R. C. Marsh (ed.), Bertrand Russell — Logic and Knowledge (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1956).
In Basil Mitchell (ed.), Faith and Logic (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1957) pp. 9–30.
Cf. also H. H. Farmer, Towards Belief in God (S.C.M., Press, London 1942).
Cf. H. H. Farmer Revelation and Religion (James Nisbet & Co., Welwyn, 1954);
Martin Bubert I and Thou (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1937);
Emil Brunner The Divine — Human Encounter (S.C.M. Press, London, 1944).
L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, trans. G. E. M. Anscombe (Blackwell, Oxford, 1953).
Cf. Norman Malcolm, ‘Anselm’s Ontological Arguments’, reprinted in D. Z. Phillips (ed.) Religion and Understanding (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1967) p. 47.
Cf. G. Frege, Foundations of Arithmetic, p. 59; also ‘On Concept and Object’ in P. Geach and M. Black, Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege (Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1952) pp. 42–55.
R. Rhees, Without Answers (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1969) pp. 128–9.
J. Blakey, Intermediate Pure Mathematics (Cleaver-Hume Press, London, 1953) p. 1.
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© 1973 Michael Durrant
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Durrant, M. (1973). On Whether ‘God’ is a Proper Name. In: The Logical Status of ‘God’. New Studies in the Philosophy of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01412-5_1
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