D SENSE-ONLY-SIGNS: FREGE ON FICTIONAL PROPER NAMES

It seems obvious that fictional proper names like 'Sherlock Holmes' are empty. However, if one also accepts that fictional proper names express a sense that determines at most one referent, it turns out to be surprisingly difficult to ensure that they do not refer to real objects. In this paper I will draw on Frege's remarks on fiction to solve this problem. Th e main point of the paper is that the reference of a singular term depends on its sense and the way in which the sense should be entertained.