Sullivan (philosophy, Memorial U. of Newfoundland, Canada) begins by emphasizing the importance of rigid designation to various issues in the philosophy of language, then argues that once Bertrand Russell's take on ordinary names is set aside, there is something characteristically Russellian about the Kripke-Kaplan model-savvy developments in the theory of reference. The concept of structure lies at the base of it all, he says. He covers framing the project; rigid designation, proper names, and structure; and the prima facie counterexamples. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
This volume investigates the precise contours of the connections between two foundational concepts: reference (the means of semantically expressing singular or object-dependent information) and structure (the having or lacking of meaningful sub-parts). Sullivan shows that the notion of structure, properly excavated, underlies and grounds various important points in the theory of reference. As such, this work builds on and further develops work by Bertrand Russell, Saul Kripke, David Kaplan, and Stephen Neale – principally, among many others.
Sullivan aims to clearly establish the intrinsic connections between structure and reference, which brings into focus informative and explanatory connections underlying otherwise disparate debates about various aspects of linguistic communication. The overall result is a simple, comprehensive lens that can help to clarify a wide range of semantic phenomena.
