2nd Anti-Exceptionalism Workshop: Empty Names in Language and Logic

Speakers

• Corine Besson (University of Sussex)
• Niall Connolly (University of Sheffield)
• Anthony Everett (University of Bristol)
• Zuzanna Gnatek (Trinity College Dublin)
• Thomas Hodgson (University College Dublin)
• Peter West (Trinity College Dublin)

Proper names purport to refer particular objects. When those objects do not exist they are called ``empty names''. Despite their lack of reference, empty names play a central role in language, from being used to talk about fictional characters to being used as theoretical terms in scientific abstractions and models. The workshop aims to explore how we should analyse empty names and what ontological commitments, if any, their use entails.

• What is the meaning of an empty name?
• How do we reason with empty names?
• What does an empty name contribute to a proposition?
• How do empty names figure in propositional attitudes?
• What is the representational significance of empty names?
• Does the presence of empty names motivate logical revision?

The workshop is organised together with The Dublin Philosophy Research Network.