Opposition to descriptivism.
Relevant figures:
Topics:
- semantic externalism
- epistemological externalism
- functionalism
- direct reference
- the relation between conceivability and possibility
Consequences:
- Names, indexicals, and naturalkind terms are not synonymous with definite descriptions, and definite descriptions do not determine the referents of these linguistic expressions.
- Understanding a name, an indexical, or a natural-kind term is not simply a matter of mentally grasping its meaning and associating this meaning with it.
- One can understand two synonymous expressions without knowing that they are synonymous; hence, meaning is not transparent.
- The meanings of many linguistic expressions and the contents of many mental states are determined in part by the physical or social environment in which they are used or occur.
- Epistemic modality and metaphysical modality diverge in certain cases