Abstract: In the traditional philosophy of language, the establishment of reference theory is mostly based on the assumption that one class of terms only corresponds to a “correct” reference theory. Philosophers have engaged in decades-long debates regarding the appropriateness of the description theory and the causal-historical theory. However, recent semantics experiments on natural kind terms, led by Nichols and others, show both theories hold partially. Natural kind terms may exhibit a causal-historical interpretation on certain occasions and a descriptivist interpretation on others, as their meanings shift based on the conversational context. These findings underscore the contextual sensitivity of referential attribution, highlighting a new dimension in reference exploration. The result of referential attribution should be collectively shaped by contextual factors associated with the attributor, referent, and the nature of terms etc. Adopting a macro-contextualist perspective, the establishment of contextualism in referential attribution offers a reasonable approach to understand and elucidate the intricacies of the reference attribution process and the varied outcomes it produces.

Key Words: Experimental philosophy of language; Referential theory; Referential attribution; Contextual sensitivity