Do modal distinctions collapse in Carnap's systems? (Q1337505)

The author diagnoses an error in D. Føllesdal's argument that modal distinctions collapse in R. Carnap's \(\text{S}_ 2\) of his \textit{Meaning and necessity}. Føllesdal argued in his 1961 thesis [Oslo Universitetforslaget (1966)] that if modal terms were permitted in the scope of a definite description operator, modalities collapse in \(\text{S}_ 2\). The error involved a misinterpretation of how Carnap would treat definite descriptions within the scope of a necessity operator.