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''De dicto'' and ''de re'' are two phrases used to mark a distinction in intensional statements, associated with the intensional operators in many such statements. The distinction is used regularly in metaphysics and in philosophy of language.〔(Semantics Archive ) discussion〕 The literal translation of the phrase "''de dicto''" is "about what is said",〔http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/de-dicto〕 whereas ''de re'' translates to "about the thing".〔http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/de-re?q=de+re〕 The original meaning of the Latin locutions is useful for understanding the living meaning of the phrases, in the distinctions they mark. The distinction is best understood by examples of intensional contexts of which we will consider three: a context of thought, a context of desire, and a context of modality. ==Context of thought== There are two possible interpretations of the sentence “Peter believes someone is out to get him”. On one interpretation, ‘someone’ is unspecific and Peter suffers a general paranoia; he believes that it is true that a person is out to get him, but does not necessarily have any beliefs about who this person may be. What Peter believes is that the predicate ‘is out to get Peter’ is satisfied. This is the ''de dicto'' interpretation. On the ''de re'' interpretation, ‘someone’ is specific, picking out some particular individual. There is some person Peter has in mind, and Peter believes that person is out to get him. In the context of thought, the distinction helps us explain how people can hold seemingly self-contradicting beliefs. Say Lois Lane believes Clark Kent is weaker than Superman. Since Clark Kent is Superman, taken ''de re'', Lois’s belief is untenable; the names ‘Clark Kent’ and ‘Superman’ pick out an individual in the world, and a person (or super-person) cannot be stronger than himself. Understood ''de dicto'', however, this may be a perfectly reasonable belief, since Lois is not aware that Clark and Superman are one and the same. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「De dicto and de re」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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