All Topics  
Definite description

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Definite description
 
 
  Topics Definite description Topic Home

A definite description is a denoting
Denotation

This word has distinct meanings in other fields: see denotation . For the opposite of Denotation see Connotation.*In logic, linguistics and semiotics, the denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its Meaning ; however, the part referred to varies by context:...
 phrase
Phrase

In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a Sentence .For example the house at the end of the street is a phrase....
 in the form of "the X" where X is a noun-phrase or a singular common noun
Noun

In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open class lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition....
. The definite description is proper if X applies to a unique individual or object. For example: "the first person in space" and "the 42nd President of the United States of America", are proper. The definite descriptions "the person in space" and "the Senator from Ohio" are improper because the noun phrase X applies to more than one thing, and the definite descriptions "the first man on Mars" and "the largest prime number" are improper because X applies to nothing.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Definite description'
Start a new discussion about 'Definite description'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A definite description is a denoting
Denotation

This word has distinct meanings in other fields: see denotation . For the opposite of Denotation see Connotation.*In logic, linguistics and semiotics, the denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its Meaning ; however, the part referred to varies by context:...
 phrase
Phrase

In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a Sentence .For example the house at the end of the street is a phrase....
 in the form of "the X" where X is a noun-phrase or a singular common noun
Noun

In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open class lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition....
. The definite description is proper if X applies to a unique individual or object. For example: "the first person in space" and "the 42nd President of the United States of America", are proper. The definite descriptions "the person in space" and "the Senator from Ohio" are improper because the noun phrase X applies to more than one thing, and the definite descriptions "the first man on Mars" and "the largest prime number" are improper because X applies to nothing. Improper descriptions raise some difficult questions about the law of excluded middle
Law of excluded middle

In logic, the law of the excluded middle states that the propositional calculus formula "P ? ?P" can be deduced from the calculus under investigation....
, denotation
Denotation

This word has distinct meanings in other fields: see denotation . For the opposite of Denotation see Connotation.*In logic, linguistics and semiotics, the denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its Meaning ; however, the part referred to varies by context:...
, modality
Linguistic modality

In linguistics, modals are expressions broadly associated with notions of possibility and necessity. Modals have a wide variety of interpretations which depend not only upon the particular modal used, but also upon where the modal occurs in a sentence, the meaning of the sentence independent of the modal, the conversational context, and a variety o...
, and mental content.

Russell's analysis

France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 is a republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
, and has no king. Consider the statement "The present King of France is bald." Is this statement true? Is it false? Is it meaningless?

It does not seem to be true, for there is no present King of France. But if it is false, then one would suppose that the negation of the statement, that is, "It is not the case that the present King of France is bald," or its logical equivalence, "The present King of France is not bald," is true. But that seems no more true than the original statement.

Is it meaningless, then? One might suppose so (and some philosophers have; see below), because it certainly does fail to denote in a sense, but on the other hand it seems to mean something that we can quite clearly understand.

Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, Order of Merit , Fellow of the Royal Society , was a British people philosopher, mathematical logic, mathematician, historian, advocate for social reform, and pacifism....
, extending the work of Gottlob Frege
Gottlob Frege

Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a Germany mathematics who became a logician and philosophy. He helped found both modern mathematical logic and analytic philosophy....
, who had similar thoughts, proposed according to his 'theory of descriptions' that when we say "the present King of France is bald", we are making three separate assertions:

1. there is an x such that x is the present King of France (?x(Fx))
2. for every x that is the present King of France and every y that is the present King of France, x equals y (i.e. there is at most one present King of France) (?x(Fx ? ?y(Fy ? y=x)))
3. for every x that is the present King of France, x is bald. (?x(Fx ? Bx))


Since assertion 1 is plainly false, and our statement is the conjunction of all three assertions, our statement is false.

Similarly, for "the present King of France is not bald", we have the identical assertions 1 and 2 plus

3a. for every x that is the present King of France, x is not bald


so "the present King of France is not bald", because it consists of a conjunction, one of whose terms is assertion 1, is also false.

The law of the excluded middle is not violated because by denying both "the King of France is bald" and "the King of France is not bald," we are not asserting the existence of some x which is neither bald nor not bald, but denying the existence of some x which is the King of France.

There is a second way of stating "the present King of France is not bald". Instead of substituting x in the sentence "x is not bald" as we have done above, we may negate (1) yielding "it is not the case that there exists an x and x is bald" (alternatively "it is not the case that there exists an x, therefore x is neither bald nor not bald". This sentence is true as opposed to the statement obtained by the previous method. Second, it is easier to see that it does not violate the law of excluded middle. Russell's analysis has been attacked by P.F. Strawson, Keith Donnellan
Keith Donnellan

Keith Donnellan is a contemporary philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has made important contributions to the philosophy of language, most notably to the analysis of proper names and definite descriptions....
 and others, and it has been defended and refined by Stephen Neale
Stephen Neale

Stephen Roy Albert Neale is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and holder of the John H. Kornblith Family Chair in the Philosophy of Science and Values at the Graduate Center, City University of New York ....
.

Symbolic form

When using the definite descriptor in a formal logic context, it can be denoted or or which is equivalent to "There is exactly one f and it has the property ?":

See also

  • Philosophy of language
    Philosophy of language

    Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for Analytic philosophys is concerned with four central problems: the nature of Meaning , language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language and reality....
  • Analytic philosophy
    Analytic philosophy

    Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century. In the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand the overwhelming majority of university philosophy departments identify themselves as "analytic" departments....


External links