The Modified Predicate Theory of Proper Names

Abstract

Tyler Burge (1973) argues for what he calls the ‘modified predicate view’ of proper names — the view that proper names are predicates in their own right. The view contrasts with the traditional predicate view according to which a name is an abbreviated or manufactured predicate; and it contrasts with the rather more popular view that names have the semantical role of individual constants. 1 The modified predicate view is constituted by three central theses: (T1) A proper name is a predicate true of an object if and only if the object was given that name in an appropriate way. (Burge 1973, p. 428) (T2) Proper names in singular unmodified form, functioning as singular terms, involve a demonstrative element. (Burge 1973, p. 432) (T3) A proper name occurring as a singular term in a sentence used by a person at a time designates an object if and only if the person refers to that object at that time with that proper name, and the proper name is true of that object. (Burge 1973, p. 435) These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 44 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.