Labels and Tags: A New Look at Naming

Abstract

What meaning does a name have in a sentence? How do we escape the inevitable difficulties that arise in delineating an individual's meaning through one's speech? The need arises for a distinction between proper names on the basis of the kinds of objects to which they refer. This distinction can provide the theoretical tools needed to solve the problems of empty names, negative existential statements, cognitive significance and substitution failure. Through a study of these issues, the fallacies inherent in current theories of meaning for proper names becomes apparent, as they fail to provide adequate or complete solutions. By elucidating a distinction between two kinds of proper names, labels and tags, we are able to provide solutions to the problems of naming where other theories fail.