Should proper names still seem so problematic?

Michael Devitt (City University of New York)

Abstract:
What determines the reference of a proper name? What is the meaning of a proper name? In undergraduate lectures at Harvard in 1967, later published in Naming and Necessity, Saul Kripke presented a radically new “picture” in answer to the reference question. Andrea Bianchi claims that “forty years later, we do not possess a fully blown theory built on his picture.” Bianchi seeks a theory of the form: “a refers to x iff aRx.” In this paper I will present a theory of that form based on developments of Kripke’s picture that I made in Designation and elsewhere. Kripke did not answer the meaning question but many influenced by him have adopted “direct reference”. I have argued elsewhere that this theory faces insurmountable problems and is theoretically unmotivated. My own answer is that a name’s meaning is its causal mode of reference. With these answers to the reference and meaning questions, I argue, proper names should not still seem so problematic.