One, "Posty McPostface" is a proper name. Here's the definition of "proper name:" "a name used for an individual person, place, or organization" — Terrapin Station
Maybe you don't know the conventional definition of "denote"?
From my perspective, by the way, it seems like either you're trolling or you're incredibly confused. — Terrapin Station
I'm quite aware of the definition of 'denote'. But, Posty McPostface doesn't denote me as a person on these online forums. And, I'm not trolling. — Posty McPostface
Simply repeating that doesn't make it any less stupid.
Try answering the question I asked and maybe we can help you learn something. — Terrapin Station
Just for fun, let's imagine that you're really Ned Block.
In what way does "Ned Block" denote you and not just various people's interactions with you via however they're interacting with you, but "Posty McPostface" doesn't denote you? — Terrapin Station
Posty McPostface doesn't denote me because I am not really Posty McPostface. It's just a nick not a name. — Posty McPostface
What makes someone "really" some name or other? — Terrapin Station
As much as I understand Kripke it's when a name is a direct referant to the object it denotes. — Posty McPostface
You said that proper names are direct referents. "Posty McPostface" is a proper name per the definition of proper names. — Terrapin Station
You're claiming that it doesn't denote you . . . because denotation is when a name is a direct referent--which is very shallowly circular. — Terrapin Station
No, because it doesn't denote me, the actual person posting under this nick. — Posty McPostface
If you handle doesn't reference you, the actual person, then who is writing all those great posts? — Bitter Crank
My alter-ego, Posty McPostface. — Posty McPostface
Yes, I realize there is no one named Posty McPostface and Posty McPostface stand in-between me and thee. And your handle isn't the same as Frodo's handle, because Frodo is a fictional character. Try as you might, YOU are not a fictional character. Somebody living in 1k. CA disguises himself as Posty. Somebody else in the now freezing northland disguises himself as Bitter Crank. — Bitter Crank
This is a post from Posty McPostface, right? So are you, Posty McPostface, claiming that Posty McPostface is the alter ego of Posty McPostface? — Dawnstorm
This post might be flippant, but I'm actually sincerely curious how you explain usage of first person pronouns in a post where the referent is necessarily ambiguous between proper and alter ego, if the two do not refer to the same real world referent. First person pronouns are not names; they're indexical expressions, and their referent is whoever is uttering them. According to your theory that is... who or what? Who or what do first person pronouns in Posty McPostface's posts refer to, so that the quoted reply above makes sense in the way that we both presumably understand it? — Dawnstorm
So, you concede — Posty McPostface
I concede nothing. A real person is writing your posts. — Bitter Crank
I wonder... do I even have enough processing power and band width to create and maintain an alter ego? I'm pretty much what you see is what you get. — Bitter Crank
Yes, no disagreements apart from the fact that I am known on these parts by the nick I go by. My usage of "my" is indicative of showing that I identify with my nick. But, again it doesn't denote my true self. — Posty McPostface
My musings with you on this forum indicate that you are no longer a bitter crank. — Posty McPostface
It would be impossible to name my true self. But it's rather easy to name myself - with different names for different context. — Dawnstorm
A test: If you, or I, were to write under our real names, would we say the same thing? — Bitter Crank
Yes, I'm not arguing over that. What I an arguing is that I'm not the same person as my alter-ego known as Posty McPostface... — Posty McPostface
I believe you. I think we switch into a certain mode when we publicly talk about heavy ideas. Even just being polite is a transformation of the interior monologue. — macrosoft
Thanks for the wine suggestions BTW. — Posty McPostface
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