Reference and Description: The Case Against Two-Dimensionalism Paperback - 2007

First line

The modern discussion of reference begins with the reaction of Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell to all initially attractive but overly simple conception of meaning and reference.

From the rear cover

"This outstanding book will define the literature on two-dimensionalism for years to come. Its clear, penetrating analysis and the responses it is sure to provoke from two-dimensionalists will take us the next step forward in our understanding of modality, apriority, and meaning."--Ted Sider, Rutgers University, author of Four-Dimensionalism

"An extremely significant contribution to the field. Two-dimensionalism is a hot--and important--topic in the philosophy of language and mind, and I expect that Reference and Description will become a, or perhaps even the, standard criticism of two-dimensionalism for some time to come."--Ben Caplan, University of Manitoba

"This is an excellent study with wide-ranging implications that will undoubtedly receive a lot of well-deserved attention. What Scott Soames makes vividly clear is that the lessons of the critique of descriptivism instituted by Kripke, Putnam, et alia, are easily obscured and have yet to be fully assimilated. The book is admirably well written, making it accessible not only to the specialist but also to the student."--Mark Eli Kalderon, University College, London