Talk:Direct reference theory

Just to be clear, I don't think that Kripke ever uses the term 'direct reference'. Instead, he talks about rigid designation, and these are not the same exactly. I think that the term 'direct reference' was actually popularized by David Kaplan more than anyone else. Kaplan also talks about rigid designation, but it does not mean the same thing for him and for Kripke (for Kripke, x is a rigid designator iff it refers to the same thing in every possible world in which is refers at all. For Kaplan, the italicized part is removed, precisely because the way he formulates direct reference entails a stronger kind of rigidity.