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19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / b. Causal reference

[reference fixed by a causal link to something]

22 ideas
The standard metre in Paris is neither one metre long nor not one metre long [Wittgenstein]
I now think reference by the tests of experts is a special case of being causally connected [Putnam]
The causal theory of reference can't distinguish just hearing a name from knowing its use [Dummett]
A realistic view of reference is possible for concrete objects, but not for abstract objects [Dummett, by Hale]
The important cause is not between dubbing and current use, but between the item and the speaker's information [Evans on Kripke]
We may refer through a causal chain, but still change what is referred to [Kripke]
The intended referent of a name needs to be the cause of the speaker's information about it [Evans]
Speakers intend to refer to items that are the source of their information [Evans]
Are causal descriptions part of the causal theory of reference, or are they just metasemantic? [Kaplan, by Schaffer,J]
One view says the causal story is built into the description that is the name's content [Stalnaker]
In the use of a name, many individuals are causally involved, but they aren't all the referent [Stalnaker]
Naming a thing in the actual world also invokes some persistence criteria [Gibbard]
Causal theories of reference make errors in reference easy [Lewis]
A new usage of a name could arise from a mistaken baptism of nothing [Sainsbury]
Causal theories of reference (by 'dubbing') don't eliminate meanings in the heads of dubbers [Rey]
If meaning and reference are based on causation, then virtually everything has meaning [Rey]
Field says reference is a causal physical relation between mental states and objects [Field,H, by Putnam]
Mathematical entities are causally inert, so the causal theory of reference won't work for them [Chihara]
Causal reference seems to get directly at the object, thus leaving its nature open [Sidelle]
Americans are more inclined to refer causally than the Chinese are [Machery]
How can causal theories of reference handle nonexistence claims? [Thomasson]
Pure causal theories of reference have the 'qua problem', of what sort of things is being referred to [Thomasson]