WALKING THE ROADS TO REFERENCE SOME COMMENTS ON MARIO GÓMEZ TORRENTE

Abstract

Abstract In chapter 3 of the very welcome and enjoyable Roads to Reference, “Proper Names and Referential Indeterminacy”, Mario Gómez Torrente proposes a set of conventions establishing merely sufficient conditions for the fixation and transmission of the reference of proper names. There are some aspects of the undoubtedly very original and rigorous proposal that have prompted me the brief comments that follow, grouped into three sections.

Keywords

• Reference fixing
• Reference transmission
• Ceteris paribus clauses
• Semantic knowledge
• Descriptivism vs. Anti-descriptivism