this would hold the same essential thought as if I were to say “ the steed is black ” instead . The only difference between the statements is their unique colouring , with both sentences triggering different subjective ideas in the mind of the listener . For example , the term ‘ horse ’ may invoke emotions of happiness and joy along with the mental image of a huge white horse galloping in a field in the listener ’ s mind , whilst the word ‘ steed ’ may invoke a feeling of sadness , accompanied with the mental image of an ailing brown horse asleep in a barn . Again , despite these unique subjective emotions and associations , both contain the same verifiable thought . Frege explains , in ‘ Sense and Reference ’, that “ colouring and shading are not objective , and must be evoked by each hearer or reader according to the hints of the poet or the speaker ” with the latter part of the sentence “ according to the hints of the speaker ” being key , as Frege is not a radical subjectivist or relativist , when interpreting colouring ( Frege , 1948 , p . 213 ). Frege furthers his explanation in ‘ Logic ’, by explaining that he wants to “ separate a thought from its trappings [ colouring and associations ]” ( Frege , [ 1909 ] 1997 , p . 239 ). It is for this reason that Michael Dummett dismissed the explanatory power of Fregean colouring , with Dummett instead
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arguing that colouring was objective , as Dummett believed that Frege ’ s excessive focus on the logical part of language led him to ‘ carelessly ’ dismiss the colouring of language ( Dummett , 1973 , p . 88 ). However , in section 2 I will rehabilitate Frege ’ s notion of colouring and its explanatory power in an analysis of epithets .
Section 2 Applying Fregean minimalism , we can explain why racial epithets can cause offence . Explaining why racial epithets cause offence is a key adequacy condition , since an important aspect of epithets is the fact that they offend , and ignoring this would not provide a sufficient explanation of epithets . Racial epithets like ‘ k * ke ’ ‘ n *** er ’ and ‘ ch * nk ’ are words which insult groups of individuals based on their perceived racial or ethnic background . Slurs can be separated from their “ nonpejorative correlate ” ( Hom , 2008 , p . 417 ): for example , the term ‘ Chinese person ’ would act as the nonpejorative correlate to ‘ ch * nk ’, since the epithet is used to disparage Chinese people as an ethnic or racial group . According to Fregean minimalism , the word ‘ ch * nk ’ and ‘ Chinese person ’ share a reference and a sense , despite the former being offensive . Applying Frege ’ s philosophy of language to racial epithets , we can see that the term ‘ n *** er ’ is