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Full Idea
Names function the same way (semantically and grammatically) regardless of whether or not there's an object that they refer to.
Gist of Idea
Names function the same way, even if there is no object
Source
Jody Azzouni (Deflating Existential Consequence [2004], Ch.3 n55)
Book Ref
Azzouni,Jody: 'Deflating Existential Consequence' [OUP 2004], p.79
A Reaction
I take this to be a fairly clear rebuttal of the 'Fido'-Fido view of names (that the meaning of the name IS the dog), which never seems to quite go away. A name is a peg on which description may be hung, seems a good slogan to me.