A direct reference theory is a theory of meaning that claims that the meaning of an expression lies in what it points out in the world. It stands in contrast to mediated reference theories.
Read more about Direct Reference Theory: John Stuart Mill, Ruth Barcan Marcus, Saul Kripke
Famous quotes containing the words direct, reference and/or theory:
“Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.... What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Ultimately Warhol’s private moral reference was to the supreme kitsch of the Catholic church.”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“Psychotherapy—The theory that the patient will probably get well anyway, and is certainly a damned ijjit.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)