Theories of reference in classical and non-classical philosophy

The article examines the philosophical theories of reference in the context of cultural semantics and linguistics. The authors analyze the content of the metaphysical theory of meaning, which goes back to Aristotle, and semantic study of language, G. Frege, B. Russell, S. Kripke, D. Davidson, M. Black, K. Donnelan, D. Kaplan. The authors conclude about the constitutive role of metaphors in the language of philosophy. A metaphor is a mode of meaning formation and the formation of concepts in a philosophical text.