Title: No empty names, no problem?
By Chris Tillman (Manitoba, Philosophy)
Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Time: 1530-1700 (snacks and refreshments from 1500)
Room: H232
Snacks and refreshments will be available from 3pm.
Abstract: Puzzles of nonexistence are ancient and philosophically central. In analytic philosophy, these issues are typically examined through the lens of “empty” (i.e., non-referring) names. E.g. if ‘Vulcan’ is empty, then how can ‘Vulcan is a planet’ or ‘Vulcan does not exist’ say anything at all, nonetheless something true? In response, some philosophers have developed views that entail there are no empty names. Can the problems of empty names in particular, and nonexistence more generally, be solved by maintaining there are no empty names? This paper argues no such solution can succeed—even if it were true that there are no empty names, we’re in a position to make new empty names, which allow all of the old problems to be re-introduced. If we want a solution to problems stemming from empty names, we need to look elsewhere; empty names are here to stay.
About the speaker: Chris Tillman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Manitoba, Canada. His work focuses on issues in metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of art. He has published in such venues as Analysis, the British Journal of Aesthetics, and the Journal of Philosophy.
Event organized by the Department of Philosophy.
