Abstract

The lead-question of Hülsen's investigation is stated in his introduction: What is the role of those pronouns which are used not demonstratively but anaphorically, that is, in relation to, or in dependence on, another expression? For example, "Socrates is old, and he is wise"; "A man is old, and he is wise." The author considers in detail three possibilities: such pronouns are convenient devices to spare us a repetition of the antecedent expression; such pronouns are basically a means for building predicates, as variables in modern logic; they can be referring in relation to objects signified by their antecedents.