Frege's Theory Of Meaning Discussed

Analyzing the deficiency of human language, Frege created a formalized language, which helps the study of logic free from the traditional restriction brought by traditional logic. As the founder of philosophy of language, he introduced many ideas about meaning, based on which the other philosophers built their own understanding of philosophy of language. In the essay, Frege's career is divided into two parts consisting of six periods, considering the fact that the theory of meaning Frege had promoted before 1890 is different from that he did after it. The former theory was mainly about formalized language but rarely about the real meaning of it; however, in the later years he began to concentrate more on the real meaning and to distinguish sense from significance which developed his former theory. By comparing these two parts, I have grasped the development of Frege's theory. Additionally, his weaknesses have been illustrated in the end.