Pragmatics of No Reference

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>According to Millianism, the semantic content of a proper name is its semantic referent. Many names, however, lack semantic referent; hence, so‐called ‘empty’ names. Empty names raise various problems for Millianism. T.C. Ryckman, Fred Adams, Garry Fuller, Robert Stecker, Kenneth Taylor, and Nicole Wyatt, among others, have defended Millianism against these problems by appeal to pragmatics (Pragmatic Millianism). I introduce Millianism and the problems raised by empty names for the view, then examine Pragmatic Millianism (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PM</jats:styled-content>), its strength, its varieties, and why the previous arguments against <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PM</jats:styled-content> do not succeed. I then provide my argument against <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PM</jats:styled-content>: the view oversimplifies the complex phenomenon of association between names and descriptions. I discuss an objection to my argument and rebut that. Finally, I try to draw an outline of a positive view.</jats:p>