'De Re/De Dicto' Ambiguity and Presupposition Projection

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to compare three existing theories of de re/de dicto ambiguity: (i) the scope theory, (ii) the intensional variable theory and (iii) the presupposition projection theory. We will conclude that the presupposition projection theory is the conceptually most desirable among these, although all three are expressive enough to describe the data. In particular, we will present novel data suggesting that the intensional variable theory is too expressive and hence lacks explanatory power.