Abstract
In this largely expository chapter, I will explain just what Russell’s ‘theory of descriptions’ is. I will not be overly concerned at this stage with the wider details of Russell’s philosophy that provide the context in which the theory was situated for him, nor will I be overly concerned with the context in which the theory was, and continues to be, situated for other philosophers. Both of those issues will be addressed in detail in subsequent chapters. My intention here is simply to state the essence of the theory, and to examine in detail some of its key features. For the purposes of this chapter, I will assume that the theory of descriptions is a theory of the semantics of certain natural language expressions. Whether Russell intended this is an issue to be dealt with later. Whether he intended it or not, any study of the theory which is to take seriously the philosophical discussions of it conducted over the last century must evaluate it as a component of a general enterprise in natural language semantics, whatever additional roles of the theory it also assesses.1
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