Article published In:
Evolutionary Linguistic TheoryVol. 4:2 (2022) ► pp.153–190
Inside names
A contextualist approach to the syntax and semantics of direct reference
In this contribution, we offer a contextualist analysis of names whereby a name N is used as a felicitous
referential term in all and only those contexts of utterance in which N is intended to refer to a unique referent by all cognitive
agents that are relevant in the context. This analysis has important across-the-board virtues. It reduces the distance between
common nouns and names, under the insight that names are a highly specific case of a more general phenomenon consisting in the
pragmatic modulation of the meaning of common nouns. It successfully ties to an important body of syntactic evidence, and
contributes to elucidate, in an original and productive manner, many of the unsolved issues concerning the syntactic structure of
(complex) names. Finally, it makes a number of philosophical puzzles virtually dissolve without giving up rigid reference for
names, but crucially suggesting that the causal theory of reference becomes far-fetched once the linguistic structure of names and
their actual use in language and cognition have been carefully evaluated.
Keywords: names, complex names, character of names, syntax of reference, rigid reference, contextualism
Article outline
- Introduction
- Some issues about rigid reference
- Nouns and names: Semantic issues
- Names and identity
- Three philosophical puzzles on belief and proper names
- Nouns and names: Syntactic issues
- Conclusions
- Notes
-
References
References
Acquaviva, P.
(2019) Two
studies on the internal syntax of complex names. Italian journal of
linguistics,
31
(2), 3–36.
Chierchia, G.
(2021) On
being trivial: Grammar vs. logic. The semantic conception of
logic. Forthcoming in G. Sagi and J. Woods (eds.), The
Semantic Conception of Logic: Essays on Consequence, Invariance, and Meaning. Cambridge, Britain: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, C., & Postal, P. M.
(2012) Imposters:
A study of pronominal agreement. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press. 
Cresswell, M. J., & Von
Stechow, A.
(1982) “De
Re” Belief Generalized. Linguistics and
Philosophy, 503–535.
Cumming, S.
(2008) Variabilism. Philosophical
Review,
117
(4), 525–554.
Del
Pinal, G.
(2019) The
logicality of language: A new take on triviality, “ungrammaticality”, and logical
form. Noûs,
53
(4), 785–818.
Gajewski, J.
(2002) L-analyticity
and natural
language. Manuscript, MIT.
(2008) More
on quantifiers in comparative clauses. Semantics and Linguistic
Theory,
18
1, 340–357.
Geurts, B.
(1997) Good
news about the description theory of names. Journal of
semantics,
14
(4), 319–348.
Haas-Spohn, U.
(1995) Versteckte
Indexikalität und subjektive Bedeutung. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
Hintikka, J.
(1962) Knowledge
and Belief: An Introduction to the Logic of the Two
Notions. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Kaplan, D.
(1968) Quantifying
In. Synthèse, 19(1–2), 178–214.
(1989) Demonstratives. In J. Almog, J. Perry, & H. Wettstein (Eds.), Themes
from
Kaplan (pp. 481–563). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kripke, S. A.
(1979) A
puzzle about belief. In A. Margalit (ed.), Meaning
and
Use (pp. 239–83). Dordrecht: Reidel.
(1980) Naming
and necessity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lewis, D.
(1979) Attitudes
de dicto and de se. The philosophical
review,
88
(4), 513–543.
Longobardi, G.
(1994) Reference
and proper names: A theory of N-movement in syntax and logical form. Linguistic
Inquiry,
25
(4), 609–665.
Matushansky, O.
(2008) On
the linguistic complexity of proper names. Linguistics and
philosophy,
31
(5), 573–627.
Putnam, H.
(1975) The
meaning of ‘meaning’. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of
Science,
7
1, 131–193.
Quine, W. V. O.
(1956) Quantifiers
and propositional attitudes. The Journal of
Philosophy,
53
1, 177–187.
Rieppel, M.
(2017) Names,
masks, and double vision. Ergo, an Open Access Journal of
Philosophy,
4
(8), 229–257.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C. B., Gray, W. D., Johnson, D. M., & Boyes-Braem, P.
(1976) Basic
objects in natural categories. Cognitive
psychology,
8
(3), 382–439.
Russell, B.
(1905) On
denoting. Mind,
14
(56), 479–493.
Salmon, N.
(1986) Frege’s
Puzzle. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press
Stalnaker, R.
(1978) Assertion. Syntax
and
Semantics,
9
1, 315–332.
(1981) Indexical
Belief. Synthese,
49
1, 129–151.
(1987) Semantics
for Belief. Philosophical
Topics,
15
1, 177–190.
(1999) Context
and Content. Oxford: Oxford University Press.