Understanding & Evaluating Russell's Theory Of Definite Descriptions
Understanding and Evaluating Russell's Theory of Definite Descriptions
- Tom Stringer
Russell's theory attempts, using systematic formal logic, to pin down conditions by which we ascribe significance and meaning to descriptive nouns or definite description' (DD) phrases in idiomatic natural language (NL). Russell's theory covers the functions of these phrases in NL and outlines his ideas on their nature. From this, he goes on to delineate implications that their transposition into a schema of propositional logic has for NL through examining them within the scope of three "puzzles".
DD's are linguistic devices used in assertions to denote common singular noun's prefaced by a definite article, usually "the." i.e. "the grey monkey" or "the PM of the United Kingdom." Donnellan surmises that DD's have two distinct linguistic functions, attributive and referential . This is to say they can attribute a certain quality to their subject "John's girlfriend is attractive", and......
View the rest of this paper...
Approximate Word Count: 2104
Approximate Pages: 9 (250 words per double-spaced page)
Why should you join Frat Files?
- - It's safe, secure, and private.
- - Instant access to over 100,000 papers. New papers are added hourly.
- - Fast and reliable customer support.
Similar Essays
-
Understanding &Amp; Evaluating Russell'S Theory Of Definite ...
Understanding & Evaluating Russell's Theory of Definite Descriptions. Understanding
and Evaluating Russell's Theory of Definite Descriptions ...
Frat Files
Members
Information
