Reference and sense

The reference of an expression is what it stands for on a given

occasion of its use. The sense of an expression is the way the
reference is presented. A thought, the proposition, the information
content grasped in understanding a sentence. But senses are not
subjective, differing from one person to the next. We share
senses.
a. The morning star is the morning star
b. The morning star is the evening star
Both the morning star and the evening star pick out the same
entity, Venus, and so have the same reference. But they have
different senses. the morning star = the star you see in the
morning at time 1 at latitude 1; the evening star = the star you
see in the evening at time 2 latitude 2.
So in (1a), reference and sense coincide: The expressions on both
sides of the copula have the same reference and sense. In (1b)
the two expressions have the same reference but a different
sense. Expressions can have a sense, but no reference. One can
know what an expression means but not know its reference, e.g,
the star furthest from the earth.
But expressions which have the same sense must have the same
reference, while expressions with the same reference may have
different senses.