Original scientific paper

Through a Glass Darkly - Russell on Names

Michael Liston

Abstract

Russell’s views about the proper logical and epistemological treatment of names conspired to lead him to set aside considerations that support
the claim that names are not definite descriptions. Though he appreciated those considerations, he famously argued that ordinary names are truncated definite descriptions. Nevertheless, his appreciation of the distinctive semantic behavior of ordinary names combined with his view that acquaintance comes in degrees led him to attempt to secure a semantically privileged status for ordinary names: only special kinds of
descriptions can go proxy for ordinary names “used as names”. The paper attempts to tell this story, filling in gaps where Russell doesn’t provide sufficient elaboration, and to draw some general conclusions about acquaintance-based approaches to names and singular thoughts.

Keywords

Russell; names; definite descriptions; denoting; acquaintance; singular/de re propositions

Hrčak ID:

93218

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/93218

Publication date:

30.10.2007.

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