 So far, this article has been concerned with what might be called ‘positive’ views of reference. Reference, construed as a relation between bits of language and bits of reality, is assumed to be a genuine, substantive relation worthy of philosophical  scrutiny—or perhaps a family of such relations. Accounts are then offered of what constitutes this link. Some philosophers have even tried to work up from this link to more substantive conclusions about the nature of knowledge and reality (see, in particular, Putnam (1981); see also the entry on  skepticism and content externalism).  But not all philosophers are so sanguine about the theoretical significance of reference, or even the thesis that there is either one or a family of substantive relations to be explained. In closing, we will briefly discuss several ‘negative’ views of reference. 