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Single Idea 7089

[from 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus' by Ludwig Wittgenstein, in 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / c. Names as referential ]

Full Idea

A name means an object; an object is its meaning. ...A name cannot be dissected further by means of a definition: it is a primitive sign.

Gist of Idea

A name is primitive, and its meaning is the object

Source

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 3.203/3.26)

Book Reference

Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Pears)', ed/tr. Pears,D. /McGuinness,B. [RKP 1961], p.12


A Reaction

This is the optimistic view of names, that they are the point at which language plugs into the world (Russell preferred demonstratives for that job). Kripke's baptismal view of names has the same aspiration.