Single Idea 13360

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / a. Names]

Full Idea

The important thing about a name, for logical purposes, is that it is used to make a singular reference to a particular object; ..we say that any expression too may be counted as a name, for our purposes, it it too performs the same job.

Gist of Idea

In logic, a name is just any expression which refers to a particular single object

Source

David Bostock (Intermediate Logic [1997], 3.1)

Book Reference

Bostock,David: 'Intermediate Logic' [OUP 1997], p.71


A Reaction

He cites definite descriptions as the most notoriously difficult case, in deciding whether or not they function as names. I takes it as pretty obvious that sometimes they do and sometimes they don't (in ordinary usage).