Keelefilosoofia raamat
was naming in the ceremony. (Devitt (1981a: section 5.1) speaks of "abilities
to designate," construing these as mental states of a certain sophisticated
type.) If so, then repair of the CausalHistorical Theory on this point will
require a significant foray into the philosophy of mind.
58 Reference and referring
Objection 4
People can be categorically mistaken in their beliefs about referents. Evans
cites E. K. Chambers' Arthur of Britain11 as asserting that King Arthur had
a son Anir "whom legend has perhaps confused with his burial place." A
speaker in the grip of the latter confusion might say "Anir must be a green
and lovely spot"; the CausalHistorical Theory would interpret that sentence
as saying that a human being (Arthur's son) was a green and lovely spot. Less
dramatically, one might mistake a person for an institution or vice versa. (A
former colleague of mine used to use the name of Emerson Hall--the build-
annaabi.ee 
