Theory of descriptions

The Theory of Descriptions is one of the philosopher Bertrand Russell's most significant contributions to the philosophy of language. It is also termed Russell's Theory of Descriptions or RTD.

RTD is a theory about how to understand statements using definite descriptions, that is, descriptions that are particularly suited to referring to single things. For example, the statement "The present King of France is bald" is not true, as there is no King of France, but its converse is not true either. RTD treats statements like this as compound statements, e.g. "There is an individual who is the King of France, and is the only such individual, and is bald." The first clause of this compound statement is false and so is the first clause of the corresponding treatment of "The present King of France is not bald."

Related articles

The Theory of Descriptions is discussed in more detail in definite description and Bertrand Russell.

External links

• Russell's Theory of Descriptions by Thomas C Ryckman (http://www.lawrence.edu/fac/ryckmant/Russell%27s%20Theory%20of%20Descriptions.htm)
• Russell's theory of descriptions at Oxford University's Introduction to Logic (http://logic.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/tutorial6/Tut6-03.htm)

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