How can the human mind think about objects outside itself? How is it possible to talk about things that don’t even exist? This week, we’re thinking about reference—specifically,an “opinionated” theory of referenceby our dear departed friend, longtime host and中国伊朗亚洲杯比赛直播co-founder,Ken Taylor.

Just hours before he passed away in December 2019, Ken announced on his Facebook page that he’d finally finished a book about reference that he had been working on for many years. He wrote:

It will still take some time to spit and polish it all up into a form suitable for shipping off to the publisher. But god it feels good to get this way too long delayed book project in close to final form. I think I'll pour a glass of wine to mark the occasion, before plunging back into the work that is still to be done.

One of my favorite poems includes the line "the slow miracles of thought take shape through patience into grace."

阿门,!

Tragically and unexpectedly, he died later that evening. But thanks to the hard work and dedication of some colleagues (including longtime co-host John Perry), Ken's book,Referring to the World: An Opinionated Introduction to the Theory of Reference, has now been published.

One great thing about the book is the way it captures Ken’s sense of wonder, and his ability to find the philosophical interest of even seemingly mundane topics. You might think there’s nothing especially mysterious about our ability to refer to objects outside of our own minds. How hard is it, after all, to point to an object like my coffee cup and say, “Here’s my coffee cup”? That’s all it takes to refer to many ordinary objects.

But our powers of thought and speech extend beyond our immediate environment. By writing about my coffee cup, I giveyouthe ability to refer to it, even if you’ve never seen it or otherwise interacted with it. By harnessing the power of language, you can stretch your thoughts across space and time: to the Mississippian people who built theCahokia moundsand then died in the 13th and 14th centuries, to the Roman EmperorGratianwho led a campaign across the Rhine around the year 370, and to the prehistoricTully monster, which swam through estuaries with its hinged jaw at the end of a long proboscis.

Some philosophers have thought that you can refer to distant objects because you’re connected to them by a chain of cause and effect: Gratian’s mother names him Gratian, and teaches the name to his subjects, who pass it on to their descendents, who telltheirdescendants… until the name reaches you. This seems plausible at first glance. Lots of things have far-reaching effects: my coffee cup can leave a ring on the table that lasts for years, or a tiny noise can cause an avalanche that changes the geography of a mountain. Why shouldn’t names have far-reaching effects too?

尽管如此，我们命名事物的能力不能只与因果有关。你可以谈论和思考一些你永远不会接触到的东西，就像23世纪第一朵盛开的花。那朵花不会影响你，因为你会在它出现之前死去。但你现在却在想这件事。你甚至可以想象一些从未存在过也永远不会存在的东西，比如独角兽或可恶的雪人。

也许思考想象的事物和思考你能看到、触摸和品尝到的真实事物是完全不同的过程。但如果这两个过程真的不同，为什么它们感觉如此相似呢?

假设你是一个探险家，想知道你看到的影子是真实的动物，还是只是你想象出来的。你不能仅仅通过检查自己的想法来判断哪个答案是正确的。或者假设你认为某人是魔术师。如果那个人是大卫·科波菲尔，那么你的想法与现实世界相符。But if you’re thinking of Merlin, then your thoughts might match up with a story, but not atruestory. Either way, the thought has the same form: “So-and-so is a magician.”

The upshot is that it’s impossible to tellfrom the insidewhether you’re thinking about something real or something imaginary. This can lead to an unnerving string of worries: how are we supposed to know what’s real? How do we even get the concept of reality? Are we just trapped inside our own heads forever?

Ken had a lot to say about these questions in his book, and I wish that he were still around to talk to us about it. Luckily, we’ll be joined this week by Robin Jeshion, a friend and colleague of Ken’s who was part of the team that got his book ready for publication. Tune in to our conversation with Robin, and don’t miss this week’s very special “Roving Philosophical Report” about who Ken was as a husband, father, and friend.

Image byFree PhotosfromPixabay