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Empty name
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In [[metaphysics]] and the [[philosophy of language]], an '''empty name''' is a [[proper name (philosophy)|proper name]] that has no [[sense and reference|referent]]. The '''problem of empty names''' is the idea that empty names have a meaning when it seems they should not have. The name "[[Pegasus]]" is empty;<ref>[[W. V. O. Quine]], "[[:s:On What There Is|On What There Is]]", ''The Review of Metaphysics'' '''2'''(5), 1948.</ref> there is nothing to which it refers. Yet, though there is no Pegasus, we know what the sentence "Pegasus has two wings" means. We can even understand the sentence "There is no such thing as Pegasus." But, what can the meaning of a proper name be, except the object to which it refers?
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