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Theory of descriptions

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discoverer might equivalently have worded the assertion, "Whoever killed Smith is insane." Now consider another speaker: suppose Jones, though innocent, has been arrested for the murder of Smith, and is now on trial. When a reporter sees Jones talking to himself outside the courtroom, and describes what she sees by saying, "Smith's murderer is insane", we may understand this as the referring use of the definite description, for we may equivalently reword the reporter's assertion thus: "That person who I see talking to himself, and who I believe murdered Smith, is insane." In this case, we should not accept Russell's analysis as correctly representing the reporter's assertion. On Russell's analysis, the sentence is to be understood as an existential quantification of the conjunction of three components:
794:"The morning star rises in the morning" no longer needs to be thought of as having the subject-predicate form. It is instead analysed as "there is one unique thing such that it is the morning star and it rises in the morning". Thus, strictly speaking, the two expressions "the morning star..." and "the evening star..." are not synonymous, so it makes sense that they cannot be substituted (the analysed description of the evening star is "there is one unique thing such that it is the evening star and it rises in the evening"). This solves 1662: 392: 1903: 634:: the morning star is the planet Venus seen in the morning sky and the evening star is the planet Venus seen in the evening sky), how is it that someone can think that the morning star rises in the morning but the evening star does not? This is apparently problematic because although the two expressions seem to denote the same thing, one cannot substitute one for the other, which one ought to be able to do with identical or synonymous expressions. 948:, there are two distinct ways we may use a definite description such as "the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray", and thus makes his distinction between the referential and the attributive use of a definite description. He argues that both Russell and Strawson make the mistake of attempting to analyse sentences removed from their context. We can mean different and distinct things while using the same sentence in different situations. 923:
books". Under Russell's theory, for such a sentence to be true there would have to be only one table in all of existence. But by uttering a phrase such as "the table is covered with books", the speaker is referring to a particular table: for instance, one that is in the vicinity of the speaker. Two broad responses have been constructed to this failure: a semantic and a pragmatic approach. The semantic approach of philosophers like
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similarly to indefinite descriptions, except that the individual is now uniquely specified. Take as an example of a definite description the sentence "the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray". Russell analyses this phrase into the following component parts (with 'x' and 'y' representing variables):
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requires that one of the following propositions, for example, must be true: either "the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray" or "it is not the case that the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray". Normally, propositions of the subject-predicate form are said to be true if and only if the subject is in
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is bald" involves two questions: (1) Is anybody at the moment a President of Sealand ? (2) Are there at the moment different people each of whom is a President of Sealand? Unless the answer to 4 is affirmative and the answer to 5 negative, the affirmative answer " yes, the President of Sealand
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architecture. While descriptions may seem like fairly uncontroversial phrases, Russell argued that providing a satisfactory analysis of the linguistic and logical properties of a description is vital to clarity in important philosophical debates, particularly in semantic arguments, epistemology and
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argues that Russell's theory intrinsically applies solely to one extraordinary subclass of singular terms but an adequate solution to the puzzles must be generalized. His theory merely addresses the principal use of the definite article "the", but fails to deal with plural uses or the generic use.
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Thus the same sentence, "Smith's murderer is insane", can be used to mean quite different things in different contexts. There are, accordingly, contexts in which "the current Emperor of Kentucky is not gray" is false because no one is the current Emperor of Kentucky, and contexts in which it is a
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If this analysis of the reporter's assertion were correct, then since Jones is innocent, we should take her to mean what the discoverer of Smith's body meant, that whoever murdered Smith is insane. We should then take her observation of Jones talking to himself to be irrelevant to the truth of her
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Thus, a definite description (of the general form 'the F is G') becomes the following existentially quantified phrase in classic symbolic logic (where 'x' and 'y' are variables and 'F' and 'G' are predicates ā€“ in the example above, F would be "is an emperor of Kentucky", and G would be "is gray"):
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of the predicate. But, there is currently no Emperor of Kentucky. So, since the subject does not exist, it is not in the extension of either predicate (it is not on the list of gray people or non-gray people). Thus, it appears that this is a case in which the law of excluded middle is violated,
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argued that Russell had failed to correctly represent what one means when one says a sentence in the form of "the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray." According to Strawson, this sentence is not contradicted by "No one is the current Emperor of Kentucky", for the former sentence contains not an
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This analysis, according to Russell, solves the second problem noted above as related to indefinite descriptions. Since the phrase "some dog is annoying" is not a referring expression, according to Russell's theory, it need not refer to a mysterious non-existent entity. Furthermore, the law of
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Another kind of counter-example that Strawson and philosophers since have raised concerns that of "incomplete" definite descriptions, that is sentences which have the form of a definite description but which do not uniquely denote an object. Strawson gives the example "the table is covered with
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For example, suppose Smith has been brutally murdered. When the person who discovers Smith's body says, "Smith's murderer is insane", we may understand this as the attributive use of the definite description "Smith's murderer", and analyse the sentence according to Russell. This is because the
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Since the phrase "the current Emperor of Kentucky is gray" is not a referring expression, according to Russell's theory it need not refer to a mysterious non-existent entity. Russell says that if there are no entities X with property F, the proposition "X has property G" is false for
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argues that the theory of descriptions must be rejected because according to the theory of descriptions, 'the present king of France is bald' and 'the present king of France is not bald' are both false and not contradictories otherwise the law of excluded middle would be violated.
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Phrases which denote one definite object, for example "the present President of the U.S.A." We need not know which object the phrase refers to for it to be unambiguous, for example "the cutest kitten" is a unique individual but his or her actual identity is
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did not murder Smith, she will admit that her use of the name was incorrect. Kripke defends Russell's analysis of definite descriptions, and argues that Donnellan does not adequately distinguish meaning from use, or, speaker's meaning from sentence meaning.
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excluded middle need not be violated (i.e. it remains a law), because "some dog is annoying" comes out true: there is a thing that is both a dog and annoying. Thus, Russell's theory seems to be a better analysis insofar as it solves several problems.
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suggests that the sentence does in fact have the appropriate meaning as to make it true. Such meaning is added to the sentence by the particular context of the speakerā€”that, say, the context of standing next to a table "completes" the sentence.
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The problem of non-referring expressions is that certain expressions that are meaningful do not truly refer to anything. For example, by "any dog is annoying" it is not meant that there is a particular individual dog, namely
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The theory of descriptions is regarded as a redundant and cumbersome method. The theory claims that ā€˜The present King of France is baldā€™ means ā€˜One and only one entity is the present King of France, and that one is baldā€™.
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Russell says that all propositions in which the Emperor of Kentucky has a primary occurrence are false. The denials of such propositions are true, but in these cases the Emperor of Kentucky has a secondary occurrence (the
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Pragmatist responses deny this intuition and say instead that the sentence itself, following Russell's analysis, is not true but that the act of uttering the false sentence communicated true information to the listener.
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suggests that if ā€˜thatā€™ is used referentially, ā€˜that one is baldā€™ is logically equivalent to the entire conjunction. Hence, the conjunction of three propositions is unnecessary as one proposition is already adequate.
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Thus, an indefinite description (of the general form 'a D is A') becomes the following existentially quantified phrase in classic symbolic logic (where 'x' and 'y' are variables and 'D' and 'A' are predicates):
919:"the current Emperor of Kentucky" as a referring (or denoting) phrase. Since there is no current Emperor of Kentucky, the phrase fails to refer to anything, and so the sentence is neither true nor false. 623:
Russell put forward his theory of descriptions to solve a number of problems in the philosophy of language. The two major problems are (1) co-referring expressions and (2) non-referring expressions.
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suggests that this approach treats "definite descriptions as harboring hidden indexical expressions, so that whatever descriptive meaning alone leaves unfinished its context of use can complete".
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as the problem of informative identities. For example, if the morning star and the evening star are the same planet in the sky seen at different times of day (indeed, they are both the planet
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have given notable, well known criticisms of the theory. Most recently, RTD has been defended by various philosophers and even developed in promising ways to bring it into harmony with
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argues that while Donnellan is correct to point out two uses of the phrase, it does not follow that the phrase is ambiguous between two meanings. For example, when the reporter
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Bradford, MIT Press. (Includes Donnellan (1966), Kripke (1977), Chapter 3 of Neale (1990), Russell (1905), Chapter 16 of Russell (1919). and Strawson (1950).)
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Informally, this reads as follows: something exists with the property F, there is only one such thing, and this unique thing also has the property G.
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sentence referring to a person whom the speaker takes to be the current Emperor of Kentucky, true or false according to the hair of the pretender.
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form of descriptions (phrases that took the form of "The aardvark" and "An aardvark") is misleading, as it does not correlate their logical and/or
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contends that Russell's analysis involves an error in the truth value that all sentences can be either true or false. Russell's nonacceptance of
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the sentence "some dog is annoying". Russell analyses this phrase into the following component parts (with 'x' and 'y' representing variables):
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Bertrand Russell's theory of descriptions was initially put forth in his 1905 essay "On Denoting", published in the journal of philosophy
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for every x and every y, if both x and y are emperors of Kentucky, then y is x (i.e. there is at most one emperor of Kentucky).
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makes himself unable to assign a proper truth value to unverifiable and unfalsifiable sentences and causes the puzzle of the
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celebrating the 100th anniversary of Russell's "On Denoting" in which the theory of descriptions was first presented.
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is bald " is not false but indeterminate. In addition, Russell's theory involves unnecessary logical complications.
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constitute Russell's third group. Descriptions most frequently appear in the standard subjectā€“predicate form.
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This analysis, according to Russell, solves the two problems noted above as related to definite descriptions:
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Lepore, Ernie (2004). "Abuse of Context in Semantics". In Reimer, Marga; Bezuidenhout, Anne (eds.).
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of the proposition is not a function of the truth of the existence of the Emperor of Kentucky).
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Denoting phrases which do not denote anything, for example "the current Emperor of Kentucky".
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Russell also fails to consider anaphoric uses of singular referential expressions.
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Russell viewed his theory of descriptions as a kind of analysis that is now called
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Informally, this reads as follows: there is something such that it is D and A.
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Kripke, Saul. (1977). "Speaker's Reference and Semantic Reference",
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Since the first development of the theory in Russell's 1905 paper "
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The problem of co-referring expressions originated primarily with
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Donnellan, Keith. (1966). "Reference and Definite Descriptions",
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An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language
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there is no y, y not equal x, such that y murdered Smith; and
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Phrases which denote ambiguously, for example, "an Aardvark".
1345:(1953). "Logic, Existence, and the Theory of Descriptions". 664:
which is also an indication that something has gone wrong.
1384:, second edition. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1321:(2 ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 19, 27ā€“29. 1234:(1936). "Language, Truth and Logic by Alfred J. Ayer". 853: 707: 687:
there is an x such that x is an emperor of Kentucky.
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Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction
1571: 1230: 1172:The book contains Kripke's previously unpublished 901: 883: 776: 1371: 2780: 1559:British philosopher, logician, and social critic 1290:(2022). "Applicability of the Laws of Thought". 693:anything that is an emperor of Kentucky is gray. 1858:Henrietta Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley 1608: 1491:ā€“ at Oxford University's Introduction to Logic. 1025:. Such a sentence as "The present President of 1286: 1933: 1535: 1511: 504: 364: 1258:(1950). "Russell's Theory of Descriptions". 1254: 1021:maintains that Russell's theory commits the 996:that Jones, the person she has been calling 1341: 2657:Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language 1947: 1940: 1926: 1635: 1542: 1528: 1418:Neale, Stephen (2005). "A Century Later", 1298:(1). London: Honcques Lausā€™s Press: 4ā€“14. 1189:Reimer, M., & Bezuidenhout, A., eds., 972:assertion. This clearly misses her point. 818: 511: 497: 371: 357: 1458:Strawson, P. F. (1950). "On Referring", 1280: 667: 531:'s most significant contribution to the 1840:Katharine Russell, Viscountess Amberley 1718:Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy 1475:ā€“ section 2 of Ludlow's article on the 1453:Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy 1446:Augsburg University of Applied Sciences 1403:The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 1401:Ludlow, Peter. (2005). "Descriptions", 1224: 1152:. Oxford University Press. p. 43. 1109:Julia Langkau, Christian Nimtz (eds.), 915:existential assertion, but attempts to 2781: 1750:In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays 1382:The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy 1147: 1921: 1523: 1510: 1316: 1310: 1215:Metaphysics, Mathematics, and Meaning 1141: 1122: 884:{\displaystyle \exists x(Dx\land Ax)} 798:'s problem of informative identities. 543:). In short, Russell argued that the 1726:Free Thought and Official Propaganda 1549: 1380:. (1999). "Theory of Descriptions", 1248: 1908:Category: Works by Bertrand Russell 1477:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 1335: 1004: 13: 1100:, Walter de Gruyter, 2003, p. 107. 939: 854: 729: 708: 14: 2805: 1466: 1455:, London: George Allen and Unwin. 906: 1902: 1901: 1822:Conrad Russell, 5th Earl Russell 1660: 1495:Russell's Theory of Descriptions 1489:Russell's theory of descriptions 1483:Russell's Theory of Descriptions 1473:Russell's Theory of Descriptions 1440:14, pp. 479ā€“493. Online at 644:the current Emperor of Kentucky 537:Russell's theory of descriptions 390: 1834:John Russell, Viscount Amberley 1828:Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell 1766:A History of Western Philosophy 1427:Definite Descriptions: A Reader 1127:. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1098:Introducing Analytic Philosophy 902:Criticism of Russell's analysis 2597:Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 1852:John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1816:John Russell, 4th Earl Russell 1372:References and further reading 1204: 1183: 1166: 1116: 1103: 1090: 979: 878: 860: 771: 759: 756: 744: 735: 717: 714: 1: 2478:Principle of compositionality 1678:The Principles of Mathematics 1425:Ostertag, Gary (ed.). (1998) 1396:Midwest Studies in Philosophy 1023:fallacy of too many questions 2627:Philosophical Investigations 1774:My Philosophical Development 1758:Power: A New Social Analysis 1432:Russell, Bertrand. (1905). " 1111:New Perspectives on Concepts 7: 2468:Modality (natural language) 1890:Professorship of Philosophy 1451:Russell, Bertrand. (1919). 1217:(Oxford: Clarendon, 2005), 1066: 593: 439:Professorship of Philosophy 10: 2810: 2607:Language, Truth, and Logic 2347:Theological noncognitivism 2232:Contrast theory of meaning 2227:Causal theory of reference 1958:Index of language articles 1702:The Problems of Philosophy 1618:Russellā€“Einstein Manifesto 1317:Lycan, William G. (2008). 671: 656:law of the excluded middle 575:'s sense, particularly by 464:Russellā€“Einstein Manifesto 303:Predicate transformational 2747: 2692:Philosophy of information 2679: 2528: 2380: 2292:Mediated reference theory 2217: 1964: 1955: 1898: 1867: 1784: 1669: 1658: 1564: 1557: 1517: 1512:Links to related articles 823:Take as an example of an 586:(not to be confused with 539:(commonly abbreviated as 2617:Two Dogmas of Empiricism 1734:Why I Am Not a Christian 1581:Coplestonā€“Russell debate 1083: 956:There is an x such that: 831:There is an x such that: 459:Coplestonā€“Russell debate 399:This article is part of 2418:Useā€“mention distinction 2262:Direct reference theory 1411:Neale, Stephen (1990). 1391:, 75, pp. 281ā€“304. 1191:Descriptions and Beyond 1150:Descriptions and Beyond 1123:Neale, Stephen (1990). 1113:, Rodopi, 2010, p. 236. 986:Reference and Existence 819:Indefinite descriptions 618:Indefinite descriptions 552:metaphysical elements. 325:Abstract semantic graph 320:Abstract interpretation 2352:Theory of descriptions 2287:Linguistic determinism 1949:Philosophy of language 1875:Appointment court case 1860:(maternal grandmother) 1854:(paternal grandfather) 1643:Peanoā€“Russell notation 1596:Theory of descriptions 1485:ā€“ by Thomas C Ryckman. 1422:114, pp. 809ā€“871. 1398:, 2, pp. 255ā€“276. 1361:10.1093/analys/13.5.97 1292:Honcques Laus's Review 1274:10.1093/analys/10.4.84 885: 825:indefinite description 778: 588:propositional calculus 584:propositional analysis 533:philosophy of language 525:theory of descriptions 479:Theory of descriptions 454:Peanoā€“Russell notation 444:Appointment court case 144:Theory of descriptions 113:Context (language use) 2463:Mental representation 2398:Linguistic relativity 2282:Inquisitive semantics 1694:Principia Mathematica 1462:59, pp. 320ā€“344. 1039:multiple-valued logic 886: 779: 680:definite descriptions 668:Definite descriptions 535:. It is also known as 244:programming languages 2794:Theories of language 2647:Naming and Necessity 2557:De Arte Combinatoria 2356:Definite description 2317:Semantic externalism 1415:Bradford, MIT Press. 1389:Philosophical Review 851: 839:x is being annoying. 705: 674:Definite description 654:. Furthermore, the 648:non-existent objects 188:Semantic file system 2697:Philosophical logic 2687:Analytic philosophy 2493:Sense and reference 2372:Verification theory 2327:Situation semantics 1810:Edith Finch Russell 1792:Alys Pearsall Smith 1742:Marriage and Morals 1573:Views on philosophy 1174:John Locke Lectures 1078:Sense and reference 527:is the philosopher 424:Views on philosophy 208:Semantic similarity 2547:Port-Royal Grammar 2443:Family resemblance 2362:Theory of language 2337:Supposition theory 1405:, E. Zalta (ed.). 1232:Stebbing, L. Susan 1096:Herbert Hochberg, 881: 774: 569:generative grammar 2776: 2775: 2770: 2769: 2272:Dynamic semantics 1915: 1914: 1794:(wife, 1894ā€“1921) 1656: 1655: 1648:Russell's paradox 1631: 1630: 1604: 1603: 1497:special issue of 1328:978-0-415-95751-9 1047:third truth value 1012:L. Susan Stebbing 961:x murdered Smith; 678:Russell analyzes 521: 520: 449:Russell's paradox 416: 415: 381: 380: 332: 331: 236: 235: 198:Semantic matching 2801: 2789:Bertrand Russell 2732:Formal semantics 2680:Related articles 2672: 2662: 2652: 2642: 2632: 2622: 2612: 2602: 2592: 2582: 2572: 2562: 2552: 2542: 2312:Relevance theory 2307:Phallogocentrism 1942: 1935: 1928: 1919: 1918: 1905: 1904: 1885:Peace Foundation 1846:John Stuart Mill 1804:Patricia Russell 1664: 1633: 1632: 1623:Russell Tribunal 1610:Views on society 1606: 1605: 1591:Russell's teapot 1569: 1568: 1551:Bertrand Russell 1544: 1537: 1530: 1521: 1520: 1508: 1507: 1365: 1364: 1339: 1333: 1332: 1314: 1308: 1307: 1284: 1278: 1277: 1252: 1246: 1245: 1228: 1222: 1208: 1202: 1187: 1181: 1170: 1164: 1163: 1145: 1139: 1138: 1120: 1114: 1107: 1101: 1094: 1053:William G. Lycan 1005:Other Objections 998:Smith's murderer 890: 888: 887: 882: 783: 781: 780: 775: 529:Bertrand Russell 513: 506: 499: 474:Russell's teapot 469:Russell Tribunal 433:Peace Foundation 429:Views on society 412: 411: 409: 408:Bertrand Russell 402: 394: 387: 386: 383: 382: 373: 366: 359: 251: 250: 203:Semantic parsing 193:Semantic desktop 171:Machine-learning 134:Semantic feature 121:Prototype theory 108:Compositionality 50: 49: 21: 20: 2809: 2808: 2804: 2803: 2802: 2800: 2799: 2798: 2779: 2778: 2777: 2772: 2771: 2766: 2743: 2722:School of Names 2675: 2670: 2660: 2650: 2640: 2637:Of Grammatology 2630: 2620: 2610: 2600: 2590: 2580: 2570: 2560: 2550: 2540: 2524: 2376: 2322:Semantic holism 2302:Non-cognitivism 2242:Conventionalism 2213: 1960: 1951: 1946: 1916: 1911: 1894: 1863: 1812:(wife, 1952ā€“70) 1806:(wife, 1936ā€“51) 1800:(wife, 1921ā€“35) 1780: 1665: 1652: 1627: 1600: 1586:Logical atomism 1560: 1553: 1548: 1513: 1469: 1374: 1369: 1368: 1340: 1336: 1329: 1315: 1311: 1285: 1281: 1253: 1249: 1244:(179): 355ā€“364. 1229: 1225: 1209: 1205: 1188: 1184: 1171: 1167: 1160: 1146: 1142: 1135: 1121: 1117: 1108: 1104: 1095: 1091: 1086: 1073:Russellian view 1069: 1043:laws of thought 1007: 982: 946:Keith Donnellan 942: 940:Keith Donnellan 909: 904: 852: 849: 848: 836:x is a dog; and 821: 706: 703: 702: 676: 670: 596: 565:Keith Donnellan 517: 488: 484:Logical atomism 407: 405: 404: 403: 400: 398: 377: 307: 243: 230: 175: 130: 90: 44: 17: 12: 11: 5: 2807: 2797: 2796: 2791: 2774: 2773: 2768: 2767: 2765: 2764: 2759: 2754: 2748: 2745: 2744: 2742: 2741: 2736: 2735: 2734: 2724: 2719: 2714: 2709: 2704: 2699: 2694: 2689: 2683: 2681: 2677: 2676: 2674: 2673: 2663: 2653: 2643: 2633: 2623: 2613: 2603: 2593: 2583: 2573: 2563: 2553: 2543: 2532: 2530: 2526: 2525: 2523: 2522: 2515: 2510: 2505: 2500: 2495: 2490: 2485: 2480: 2475: 2473:Presupposition 2470: 2465: 2460: 2455: 2450: 2445: 2440: 2435: 2430: 2425: 2420: 2415: 2410: 2405: 2400: 2395: 2390: 2384: 2382: 2378: 2377: 2375: 2374: 2369: 2364: 2359: 2349: 2344: 2339: 2334: 2329: 2324: 2319: 2314: 2309: 2304: 2299: 2294: 2289: 2284: 2279: 2274: 2269: 2264: 2259: 2254: 2252:Deconstruction 2249: 2244: 2239: 2234: 2229: 2223: 2221: 2215: 2214: 2212: 2211: 2206: 2201: 2196: 2191: 2186: 2181: 2176: 2171: 2166: 2161: 2156: 2151: 2146: 2141: 2136: 2131: 2126: 2121: 2116: 2111: 2106: 2101: 2096: 2091: 2086: 2081: 2076: 2071: 2066: 2061: 2056: 2051: 2046: 2041: 2036: 2031: 2026: 2021: 2016: 2011: 2006: 2001: 1996: 1991: 1986: 1981: 1976: 1970: 1968: 1962: 1961: 1956: 1953: 1952: 1945: 1944: 1937: 1930: 1922: 1913: 1912: 1899: 1896: 1895: 1893: 1892: 1887: 1882: 1877: 1871: 1869: 1865: 1864: 1862: 1861: 1855: 1849: 1843: 1837: 1831: 1825: 1819: 1813: 1807: 1801: 1795: 1788: 1786: 1782: 1781: 1779: 1778: 1770: 1762: 1754: 1746: 1738: 1730: 1722: 1714: 1706: 1698: 1690: 1682: 1673: 1671: 1667: 1666: 1659: 1657: 1654: 1653: 1651: 1650: 1645: 1639: 1637: 1629: 1628: 1626: 1625: 1620: 1614: 1612: 1602: 1601: 1599: 1598: 1593: 1588: 1583: 1577: 1575: 1566: 1562: 1561: 1558: 1555: 1554: 1547: 1546: 1539: 1532: 1524: 1518: 1515: 1514: 1505: 1504: 1492: 1486: 1480: 1468: 1467:External links 1465: 1464: 1463: 1456: 1449: 1430: 1423: 1416: 1409: 1399: 1392: 1385: 1373: 1370: 1367: 1366: 1334: 1327: 1309: 1288:Laus, Honcques 1279: 1247: 1223: 1203: 1182: 1165: 1158: 1140: 1133: 1115: 1102: 1088: 1087: 1085: 1082: 1081: 1080: 1075: 1068: 1065: 1033:Furthermore, 1006: 1003: 981: 978: 969: 968: 965: 962: 958: 957: 941: 938: 912:P. F. Strawson 908: 907:P. F. Strawson 905: 903: 900: 892: 891: 880: 877: 874: 871: 868: 865: 862: 859: 856: 841: 840: 837: 833: 832: 820: 817: 808: 807: 799: 785: 784: 773: 770: 767: 764: 761: 758: 755: 752: 749: 746: 743: 740: 737: 734: 731: 728: 725: 722: 719: 716: 713: 710: 695: 694: 691: 688: 669: 666: 615: 614: 611: 607: 595: 592: 561:P. F. Strawson 519: 518: 516: 515: 508: 501: 493: 490: 489: 487: 486: 481: 476: 471: 466: 461: 456: 451: 446: 441: 436: 426: 418: 417: 414: 413: 401:a series about 397: 395: 379: 378: 376: 375: 368: 361: 353: 350: 349: 348: 347: 342: 334: 333: 330: 329: 328: 327: 322: 314: 313: 309: 308: 306: 305: 300: 295: 290: 285: 280: 275: 270: 265: 259: 256: 255: 247: 246: 238: 237: 234: 233: 232: 231: 229: 228: 223: 217: 215: 213:Semantic query 210: 205: 200: 195: 190: 182: 181: 177: 176: 174: 173: 168: 163: 157: 154: 153: 149: 148: 147: 146: 141: 136: 131: 129: 128: 126:Force dynamics 123: 117: 115: 110: 105: 97: 96: 92: 91: 89: 88: 83: 78: 64: 58: 55: 54: 46: 45: 43: 42: 37: 31: 28: 27: 16:Russelian view 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 2806: 2795: 2792: 2790: 2787: 2786: 2784: 2763: 2760: 2758: 2755: 2753: 2750: 2749: 2746: 2740: 2737: 2733: 2730: 2729: 2728: 2725: 2723: 2720: 2718: 2717:Scholasticism 2715: 2713: 2710: 2708: 2705: 2703: 2700: 2698: 2695: 2693: 2690: 2688: 2685: 2684: 2682: 2678: 2669: 2668: 2664: 2659: 2658: 2654: 2649: 2648: 2644: 2639: 2638: 2634: 2629: 2628: 2624: 2619: 2618: 2614: 2609: 2608: 2604: 2599: 2598: 2594: 2588: 2584: 2579: 2578: 2574: 2569: 2568: 2564: 2559: 2558: 2554: 2549: 2548: 2544: 2539: 2538: 2534: 2533: 2531: 2527: 2521: 2520: 2516: 2514: 2511: 2509: 2506: 2504: 2501: 2499: 2496: 2494: 2491: 2489: 2486: 2484: 2481: 2479: 2476: 2474: 2471: 2469: 2466: 2464: 2461: 2459: 2456: 2454: 2451: 2449: 2446: 2444: 2441: 2439: 2436: 2434: 2431: 2429: 2426: 2424: 2421: 2419: 2416: 2414: 2411: 2409: 2406: 2404: 2401: 2399: 2396: 2394: 2391: 2389: 2386: 2385: 2383: 2379: 2373: 2370: 2368: 2365: 2363: 2360: 2357: 2353: 2350: 2348: 2345: 2343: 2340: 2338: 2335: 2333: 2332:Structuralism 2330: 2328: 2325: 2323: 2320: 2318: 2315: 2313: 2310: 2308: 2305: 2303: 2300: 2298: 2295: 2293: 2290: 2288: 2285: 2283: 2280: 2278: 2275: 2273: 2270: 2268: 2265: 2263: 2260: 2258: 2257:Descriptivism 2255: 2253: 2250: 2248: 2245: 2243: 2240: 2238: 2237:Contrastivism 2235: 2233: 2230: 2228: 2225: 2224: 2222: 2220: 2216: 2210: 2207: 2205: 2202: 2200: 2197: 2195: 2192: 2190: 2187: 2185: 2182: 2180: 2177: 2175: 2172: 2170: 2167: 2165: 2162: 2160: 2157: 2155: 2152: 2150: 2147: 2145: 2142: 2140: 2137: 2135: 2132: 2130: 2127: 2125: 2122: 2120: 2117: 2115: 2112: 2110: 2107: 2105: 2102: 2100: 2097: 2095: 2092: 2090: 2087: 2085: 2082: 2080: 2077: 2075: 2072: 2070: 2067: 2065: 2062: 2060: 2057: 2055: 2052: 2050: 2047: 2045: 2042: 2040: 2037: 2035: 2032: 2030: 2027: 2025: 2022: 2020: 2017: 2015: 2012: 2010: 2007: 2005: 2002: 2000: 1997: 1995: 1992: 1990: 1987: 1985: 1982: 1980: 1977: 1975: 1972: 1971: 1969: 1967: 1963: 1959: 1954: 1950: 1943: 1938: 1936: 1931: 1929: 1924: 1923: 1920: 1910: 1909: 1897: 1891: 1888: 1886: 1883: 1881: 1878: 1876: 1873: 1872: 1870: 1866: 1859: 1856: 1853: 1850: 1847: 1844: 1841: 1838: 1835: 1832: 1829: 1826: 1823: 1820: 1817: 1814: 1811: 1808: 1805: 1802: 1799: 1796: 1793: 1790: 1789: 1787: 1783: 1776: 1775: 1771: 1768: 1767: 1763: 1760: 1759: 1755: 1752: 1751: 1747: 1744: 1743: 1739: 1736: 1735: 1731: 1728: 1727: 1723: 1720: 1719: 1715: 1712: 1711: 1710:Why Men Fight 1707: 1704: 1703: 1699: 1696: 1695: 1691: 1688: 1687: 1683: 1680: 1679: 1675: 1674: 1672: 1668: 1663: 1649: 1646: 1644: 1641: 1640: 1638: 1634: 1624: 1621: 1619: 1616: 1615: 1613: 1611: 1607: 1597: 1594: 1592: 1589: 1587: 1584: 1582: 1579: 1578: 1576: 1574: 1570: 1567: 1563: 1556: 1552: 1545: 1540: 1538: 1533: 1531: 1526: 1525: 1522: 1516: 1509: 1502: 1501: 1496: 1493: 1490: 1487: 1484: 1481: 1478: 1474: 1471: 1470: 1461: 1457: 1454: 1450: 1447: 1443: 1439: 1435: 1431: 1428: 1424: 1421: 1417: 1414: 1410: 1408: 1404: 1400: 1397: 1393: 1390: 1386: 1383: 1379: 1378:Bertolet, Rod 1376: 1375: 1362: 1358: 1355:(5): 97ā€“111. 1354: 1350: 1349: 1344: 1338: 1330: 1324: 1320: 1313: 1305: 1301: 1297: 1293: 1289: 1283: 1275: 1271: 1267: 1263: 1262: 1257: 1251: 1243: 1239: 1238: 1233: 1227: 1220: 1216: 1212: 1211:Salmon, N. U. 1207: 1200: 1196: 1192: 1186: 1179: 1175: 1169: 1161: 1155: 1151: 1144: 1136: 1130: 1126: 1119: 1112: 1106: 1099: 1093: 1089: 1079: 1076: 1074: 1071: 1070: 1064: 1061: 1057: 1054: 1050: 1048: 1044: 1040: 1036: 1035:Honcques Laus 1031: 1028: 1024: 1020: 1016: 1013: 1002: 999: 995: 991: 987: 977: 973: 966: 963: 960: 959: 955: 954: 953: 949: 947: 944:According to 937: 933: 931: 926: 925:Stephen Neale 920: 918: 913: 899: 895: 875: 872: 869: 866: 863: 857: 847: 846: 845: 838: 835: 834: 830: 829: 828: 826: 816: 814: 805: 800: 797: 796:Gottlob Frege 793: 792: 791: 788: 768: 765: 762: 753: 750: 747: 741: 738: 732: 726: 723: 720: 711: 701: 700: 699: 692: 689: 686: 685: 684: 681: 675: 665: 662: 657: 653: 649: 645: 641: 635: 633: 629: 628:Gottlob Frege 624: 621: 619: 612: 608: 605: 604: 603: 601: 591: 589: 585: 580: 578: 577:Stephen Neale 574: 570: 566: 562: 558: 553: 550: 546: 542: 538: 534: 530: 526: 514: 509: 507: 502: 500: 495: 494: 492: 491: 485: 482: 480: 477: 475: 472: 470: 467: 465: 462: 460: 457: 455: 452: 450: 447: 445: 442: 440: 437: 434: 430: 427: 425: 422: 421: 420: 419: 410: 396: 393: 389: 388: 385: 384: 374: 369: 367: 362: 360: 355: 354: 352: 351: 346: 343: 341: 338: 337: 336: 335: 326: 323: 321: 318: 317: 316: 315: 311: 310: 304: 301: 299: 296: 294: 291: 289: 286: 284: 281: 279: 276: 274: 271: 269: 266: 264: 261: 260: 258: 257: 253: 252: 249: 248: 245: 240: 239: 227: 226:Semantic wiki 224: 222: 219: 218: 216: 214: 211: 209: 206: 204: 201: 199: 196: 194: 191: 189: 186: 185: 184: 183: 179: 178: 172: 169: 167: 166:Computational 164: 162: 159: 158: 156: 155: 151: 150: 145: 142: 140: 137: 135: 132: 127: 124: 122: 119: 118: 116: 114: 111: 109: 106: 104: 101: 100: 99: 98: 94: 93: 87: 84: 82: 79: 76: 72: 68: 65: 63: 62:Computational 60: 59: 57: 56: 52: 51: 48: 47: 41: 38: 36: 33: 32: 30: 29: 26: 23: 22: 19: 2665: 2655: 2645: 2635: 2625: 2615: 2605: 2595: 2575: 2565: 2555: 2545: 2535: 2517: 2458:Metalanguage 2453:Logical form 2408:Truth-bearer 2367:Unilalianism 2351: 2277:Expressivism 2104:Wittgenstein 2049:von Humboldt 1966:Philosophers 1900: 1880:Earl Russell 1798:Dora Russell 1772: 1764: 1756: 1748: 1740: 1732: 1724: 1716: 1708: 1700: 1692: 1684: 1676: 1595: 1498: 1476: 1459: 1452: 1437: 1426: 1419: 1413:Descriptions 1412: 1402: 1395: 1388: 1381: 1352: 1346: 1337: 1318: 1312: 1295: 1291: 1282: 1268:(4): 84ā€“88. 1265: 1259: 1256:Geach, P. T. 1250: 1241: 1235: 1226: 1214: 1206: 1190: 1185: 1168: 1149: 1143: 1125:Descriptions 1124: 1118: 1110: 1105: 1097: 1092: 1058: 1051: 1032: 1017: 1008: 997: 993: 985: 983: 974: 970: 967:x is insane. 950: 943: 934: 930:Ernie Lepore 921: 916: 910: 896: 893: 842: 824: 822: 809: 806:values of X. 803: 789: 786: 696: 677: 643: 639: 636: 625: 622: 617: 616: 599: 597: 583: 581: 573:Noam Chomsky 554: 540: 536: 524: 522: 478: 288:Denotational 242:Semantics of 221:Semantic Web 180:Applications 143: 139:Semantic gap 18: 2702:Linguistics 2667:Limited Inc 2587:On Denoting 2413:Proposition 2064:de Saussure 2029:Ibn Khaldun 1848:(godfather) 1697:(1910ā€“1913) 1686:On Denoting 1636:Mathematics 1434:On Denoting 1407:Online text 1343:Pap, Arthur 1199:pp. 422ā€“423 1019:P. T. Geach 990:Saul Kripke 980:Saul Kripke 813:truth value 557:On Denoting 345:Linguistics 298:Operational 283:Concurrency 278:Categorical 81:Statistical 2783:Categories 2762:Discussion 2757:Task Force 2707:Pragmatics 2498:Speech act 2428:Categories 2342:Symbiosism 2297:Nominalism 2209:Watzlawick 2089:Bloomfield 2009:Chrysippus 1565:Philosophy 1442:Wikisource 1159:019927052X 1134:0262140454 1060:Arthur Pap 672:See also: 86:Structural 75:lexicology 35:Linguistic 2739:Semiotics 2727:Semantics 2577:Alciphron 2513:Statement 2448:Intension 2388:Ambiguity 2267:Dramatism 2247:Cratylism 1999:Eubulides 1994:Aristotle 1974:Confucius 1830:(brother) 1304:2755-1636 1197:, 2004), 1195:Clarendon 1193:(Oxford: 994:finds out 870:∧ 855:∃ 763:∧ 745:→ 730:∀ 727:∧ 709:∃ 661:extension 650:into his 545:syntactic 273:Axiomatic 268:Algebraic 53:Subfields 25:Semantics 2752:Category 2712:Rhetoric 2537:Cratylus 2508:Sentence 2483:Property 2403:Language 2381:Concepts 2219:Theories 2184:Strawson 2169:Davidson 2159:Hintikka 2154:Anscombe 2099:Vygotsky 2054:Mauthner 2024:Averroes 2014:Zhuangzi 2004:Diodorus 1984:Cratylus 1842:(mother) 1836:(father) 1348:Analysis 1261:Analysis 1180:in 1973. 1067:See also 652:ontology 610:unknown. 594:Overview 549:semantic 340:Language 152:Analysis 103:Analysis 2519:more... 2423:Concept 2164:Dummett 2139:Gadamer 2134:Chomsky 2119:Derrida 2109:Russell 2094:Bergson 2079:Tillich 2039:Leibniz 1979:Gorgias 1868:Related 1027:Sealand 640:any dog 67:Lexical 40:Logical 2671:(1988) 2661:(1982) 2651:(1980) 2641:(1967) 2631:(1953) 2621:(1951) 2611:(1936) 2601:(1921) 2591:(1905) 2581:(1732) 2571:(1668) 2561:(1666) 2551:(1660) 2541:(n.d.) 2503:Symbol 2204:Searle 2194:Putnam 2144:Kripke 2129:Austin 2114:Carnap 2059:Ricœur 2044:Herder 2034:Hobbes 1906:  1785:Family 1777:(1959) 1769:(1945) 1761:(1938) 1753:(1935) 1745:(1929) 1737:(1927) 1729:(1922) 1721:(1919) 1713:(1916) 1705:(1912) 1689:(1905) 1681:(1903) 1325:  1302:  1219:p. 295 1178:Oxford 1156:  1131:  1045:. The 312:Theory 263:Action 161:Latent 95:Topics 2529:Works 2438:Class 2199:Lewis 2189:Quine 2174:Grice 2124:Whorf 2084:Sapir 2069:Frege 2019:Xunzi 1989:Plato 1824:(son) 1818:(son) 1670:Works 1084:Notes 632:Venus 254:Types 71:lexis 2488:Sign 2393:Cant 2179:Ryle 2149:Ayer 2074:Boas 1500:Mind 1460:Mind 1444:and 1438:Mind 1420:Mind 1323:ISBN 1300:ISSN 1237:Mind 1154:ISBN 1129:ISBN 659:the 600:Mind 563:and 523:The 293:Game 2433:Set 1436:", 1357:doi 1270:doi 1242:XLV 1176:at 984:In 917:use 804:all 590:). 571:in 541:RTD 2785:: 2589:" 1353:13 1351:. 1294:. 1266:10 1264:. 1240:. 1213:, 988:, 73:, 2585:" 2358:) 2354:( 1941:e 1934:t 1927:v 1543:e 1536:t 1529:v 1479:. 1448:. 1363:. 1359:: 1331:. 1306:. 1296:I 1276:. 1272:: 1221:. 1201:. 1162:. 1137:. 879:) 876:x 873:A 867:x 864:D 861:( 858:x 772:) 769:x 766:G 760:) 757:) 754:y 751:= 748:x 742:y 739:F 736:( 733:y 724:x 721:F 718:( 715:( 712:x 512:e 505:t 498:v 435:) 431:( 372:e 365:t 358:v 77:) 69:(

Index

Semantics
Linguistic
Logical
Computational
Lexical
lexis
lexicology
Statistical
Structural
Analysis
Compositionality
Context (language use)
Prototype theory
Force dynamics
Semantic feature
Semantic gap
Theory of descriptions
Latent
Computational
Machine-learning
Semantic file system
Semantic desktop
Semantic matching
Semantic parsing
Semantic similarity
Semantic query
Semantic Web
Semantic wiki
Semantics of
programming languages

Action

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