Author Description

This Book Is A Selection Of Published Papers In Philosophy Of Language By Michael Devitt, Accompanied By Many New Footnotes And Postscripts. A Dominant Theme Is The Semantics Of Proper Names, Definite Descriptions, And Demonstratives. The Book Argues That These Terms Have Conventional Referential Uses To Express Singular Thoughts. Those Uses Are Explained By A Unified Causal Theory: A Term's Reference Is Largely Fixed In An Object By A Causal Link Between The Person And The Object When It Is, Or Was, The Focus Of That Person's Perception. Furthermore, The Book Argues That A Term's Meaning Is Its Largely Causal Mode Of Reference. So, A Related Theme Is The Rejection Of The Direct Reference View That The Meaning Of A Name Is Its Bearer-- Provided By Publisher.