Meaning, thought and Reality

Meaning, thought and Reality

1. Referent: is the entity referred to.

   • Constant referent: it's used in proper names, places names and important dates.
   • Variable reference: it's used with personal pronouns

2. Nominal: is the linguistic unit which most clearly reveals this function of language

   • Names: the simplest case of nominals which have reference.
     • Causal theory: is based on the idea that names are socially inherited, or borrowed
     • Description theory: here a name is taken as a label or shorthand for knowledge about referent, or in the terminology of philosophers, for one or more definite descriptions.

3. Concepts

   • Underextending: when children may operate with concepts that are quite different.
   • Overextending: a child uses a concept for every general concept.
   • Prototypes: is a model of concepts which views them as structured so that there are central or typical members of a category.
   • Definition: it's when a word is referring to a concept composed of a set of necessary and sufficient conditions.
   • Ostensive language: is the idea that children (and adults) acquire concepts by being directed to examples in the world.

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