Bringing the curtain down on the causal theory of reference: A truly better picture of the semantics of proper namesJakub Rudnicki (Centre for Philosophy of Memory, University of Grenoble)
May 22, 2025, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
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Warsaw University
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The next meeting of the Sign-Language-Reality seminar in the academic year 2024/25 will take place:
Thursday, the 22nd of May 2025, 17.00, Central European Time
brief “better picture” remarks—has become the dominant account of the semantics
of proper names and remains so today. I argue that this dominance is
unfortunate. I advance three arguments against the theory. First, the chains
that play its central explanatory role are often not genuinely causal, which
means the theory cannot satisfy basic naturalistic standards; it must either
posit action at a distance or invoke referential properties that are not
reducible to physical ones. The second argument shows that an appropriate causal
connection between a name token and its bearer is not sufficient to establish
reference. The third argument—generalizing the point already established by the
first—demonstrates that such causation is not even necessary. Throughout the
paper I observe that, whenever the causal theory encounters difficulty, it
retreats from purely causal considerations and instead appeals to social or
conventional facts about name use. This pattern motivates my concluding
suggestion: the causal theory should be supplanted by an account on which the
reference of proper names is fixed by convention alone. I end the paper with a
brief sketch of a truly better convention based picture The seminar will be held online, to join the meeting, please use the information below: Join Zoom Meeting https://uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/j/92716044372... Meeting ID: 927 1604 4372 Passcode: 697648 The meeting opens at 4:45 pm, the talk starts at 5 pm. https://www.pts.edu.pl/seminarium
Jakub Rudnicki
(University of Grenoble)
will deliver a talk:Bringing the curtain down on the causal theory of reference: A truly better picture of the semantics of proper names
Abstract: Since Kripke’s demolition of descriptivism, the causal theory—assembled from hisbrief “better picture” remarks—has become the dominant account of the semantics
of proper names and remains so today. I argue that this dominance is
unfortunate. I advance three arguments against the theory. First, the chains
that play its central explanatory role are often not genuinely causal, which
means the theory cannot satisfy basic naturalistic standards; it must either
posit action at a distance or invoke referential properties that are not
reducible to physical ones. The second argument shows that an appropriate causal
connection between a name token and its bearer is not sufficient to establish
reference. The third argument—generalizing the point already established by the
first—demonstrates that such causation is not even necessary. Throughout the
paper I observe that, whenever the causal theory encounters difficulty, it
retreats from purely causal considerations and instead appeals to social or
conventional facts about name use. This pattern motivates my concluding
suggestion: the causal theory should be supplanted by an account on which the
reference of proper names is fixed by convention alone. I end the paper with a
brief sketch of a truly better convention based picture The seminar will be held online, to join the meeting, please use the information below: Join Zoom Meeting https://uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/j/92716044372... Meeting ID: 927 1604 4372 Passcode: 697648 The meeting opens at 4:45 pm, the talk starts at 5 pm. https://www.pts.edu.pl/seminarium
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