ABSTRACT
That many of the thoughts and sensations 'refer to objects' is generally accepted; but it seems to many philosophers that objective reference is paradoxical. Proper formulation of the problem of objective reference is perhaps best approached in terms of the case of reference presented by our perception of physical objects. This chapter examines certain important passages in G. E. Moore's paper on 'The Status of Sense Data' in the book Philosophical Studies. A comprehensive statement of the problem must be formulated in terms of the genus of which sensibles are but one species. The chapter proposes a genus to label 'intuitions'. However, since 'intuitions' will play a fundamental role in the analysis of objective reference to follow, it is necessary to make clear to begin with the sense in which that term will be used, and in which the author is using it when he classes sensibles as a species of intuitions.
