The aim of the present paper is to describe the nature of delusion according to a theory of reference. The category of reference is investigated based in the analytical philosophy of language and in psychopathology. All theoretical reflection begins with the analysis of speech excerpts of psychotic patients and it is verified that psychotic thought is distinguished by the breaking of the usual process of referentiation. It is shown the insufficiency of conceiving delusion as only a judicative mistake and the necessity on considering delusional propositions under the more ample contexts of ordinary language and so clear up its specificity.
Reference; psychosis; delusion
