On the error of treating functions as objects

Abstract

In his late fragment, "Sources of Knowledge of Mathematics and Natural Sciences," Frege laments the tendency to confuse functions with objects and says, "It is here that the tendency of language by its use of the definite article to stamp as an object what is a function and hence a non-object, proves itself to be the source of inaccurate and misleading expressions and also of errors of thought. Probably most of the impurities that contaminate the logical source of knowledge have their origins in this." This paper applies Frege's logical insights to a series of influential modal arguments for the existence of souls or minds, in order to demonstrate that they hinge on the error of treating fun..