ABSTRACT
The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 introduces the Benacerraf and grainsize problems, showing how they arise for previous theories of propositions. Section 3 then sets out King’s syntax-based account in detail. In order to explain why his account ultimately suffers from Benacerraf and grain-size problems, it is necessary first to examine how previous attempts to pin these problems on his account miss the mark. This task is taken up in Sections 4 and 5, which respectively consider the Benacerraf and grain-size objections as posed by King’s critics, and offer a provisional defense of the syntax-based account against both objections. Section 6 then argues that King’s account faces Benacerraf and grainsize problems after all, and considers the negative implications for the idea that it is syntax that unifies the proposition.
