Abstract

The paper is about Chomsky’s interpretation of reference and his explanation of communication. Section 1 presents Chomsky’s criticisms of the notion of reference that is used in philosophy of language and the alternative interpretation that Chomsky proposes. Section 2 is devoted to Chomsky’s account of communication. It will be argued that his account does not correspond to Davidson’s. The conclusion provides a brief reflection about the role of formal semantics in Chomsky’s thought