Mediated reference theory
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The mediated reference theory is a semantic theory that posits that words refer to something in the external world, but insists that there is more to the meaning of a name than simply the object to which it refers. It thus stands opposed to the theory of direct reference. Its most famous advocate is the mathematician and philosopher Gottlob Frege. The view was very widely held in the middle of the twentieth century by such philosophers as Sir Peter Strawson and John Searle.