Russell — What an empty description contributes
The question that opens it
If there is no person to refer to, is the sentence meaningless, or can we analyze a structure under which it is false?
- 1
“On Denoting” appeared in 1905 in Mind, volume XIV, issue 4, pages 479–493.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Mind XIV(4), pages 479–493; DOI 10.1093/mind/XIV.4.479
Locator: Article metadata, pages 479–493
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- 2
Russell distinguishes denoting phrases that may fail to denote anything despite their descriptive form.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Institutional full text hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Locator: Page 479
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- 3
A sentence of the form the F is G is analyzed in terms of existence, uniqueness, and predication at the sentence level.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Institutional full text hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Locator: Pages 480–482 and 488–490
Open sourceDescriptions
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 2
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- 4
Once the analysis is expanded, a definite description does not remain a single sentence constituent like a proper name but contributes within a quantified structure.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Institutional full text hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Locator: Pages 488–490
Open sourceDescriptions
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Sections 2–3
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- 5
The absence of an object satisfying a description does not by itself make the whole sentence meaningless; under the analysis it may be false.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Institutional full text hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Locator: Pages 479 and 484–490
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- 6
Different scopes of negation distinguish the F is not G from the denial that there is a unique F that is G.
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On Denoting
Bertrand Russell · 1905 · Institutional full text hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Locator: Pages 489–490
Open sourceDescriptions
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 3.1
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- 7
Russell’s truth-conditional analysis was followed by important objections and alternatives concerning existence, uniqueness, and context, including those associated with Strawson.
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Descriptions
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 5
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