Situation Descriptivism
Yu Izumi
University of Maryland
In this paper I propose a descriptivist analysis of proper names under an
empirical assumption that the syntax of proper names is complex. I
argue that the logical form of the singular use of a proper name is
[ the [ F s ] ] where `s' is a situation pronoun that denotes a certain
situation, a part of a possible world. The theory of situation
pronouns generally accounts for the context-dependence of determiner
phrases. Situation pronouns play the roles of quantifier domain
restriction indices. They also encode the modal properties of
determiner phrases. Definite descriptions can rigidly and
uniquely designate objects in virtue of the co-existing situation pronouns.
Since the proposed descriptivist analysis claims that names are contextually
produced rigid designators, it avoids the standard objections to classical
descriptivism.
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