Mediated reference theory: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 19:52, 16 December 2009

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The '''mediated reference theory''' is a [[semantics|semantic]] theory that posits that words refer to something in the external world, but insists that there is more to the meaning of a name than simply the object to which it refers. It thus stands opposed to the theory of [[direct reference]]. Its most famous advocate is the mathematician and philosopher [[Gottlob Frege]]. The view was very widely held in the middle of the twentieth century by such philosophers as Sir [[Peter Strawson]] and [[John Searle]].

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It is because Frege uses [[definite description]]s in many of his examples that he is often taken to have endorsed the [[descriptivist theory of names]], an attribution made by [[Saul Kripke]]. Most scholars of Frege's work now agree, however, that the attribution is mistaken. If so, then it is important to distinguish the mediated reference theory from the description theory of names.

== See also ==

* [[Direct reference theory]]

* [[Sense and reference]]

* [[Descriptivist theory of names]]

{{philosophyPhilosophy of language}}

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[[Category:Theories of language]]

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[[Category:Reference]]