Proper name

"A proper name a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic (1. ii. 5.), "but not of telling anything about it". The problem of defining proper names, and of explaining their meaning, is one of the most recalcitrant in modern philosophy.

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Mill's definition is as good as any, though it is ultimately not helpful. A proper name tells us which thing is in question, without giving us any other information about it. But how does it do this? What exactly is the nature of this information? There are two puzzles in particular:

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• The name in some way reveals the identity of the object. An identity statement, such as "Hesperus = Phosphorus" should contain no information at all. If we understand the names, we should understand the information they carry, namely the identity of their bearers, and if we grasp their identity, we should understand automatically whether the statement is true or false. Thus the statement should not be informative. Yet it is. The discovery that Hesperus = Phosphorus was (in its day) a great scientific achievement.
• Empty names seem perfectly meaningful. Then whose identity do they reveal? If the only semantic function of a name is to tell us which individual a proposition is about, how can it tell us this when there is no such individual?

Proper name related Images and Photos (experimental)

Ida Proper	Code Name: Emerald (DVD)	Code Name: The Cleaner (DVD) (WS)	Name 5 Party Game
Name of the Rose, The (BD)	Code Name - Emerald (1985)	In Name Only (1939)	Your Name - Mini Trophy
My Name is Khan	Tonner Proper Boot Doll Accessory	My Name Is Bill W. (DVD)	My Name is Bruce