Single Idea 7745

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / b. Names as descriptive]

Full Idea

Russell's proposal that a natural name is an abbreviated description invites four objections: not all speakers can produce descriptions; the description could be false; no one description seems special; and descriptions usually contain names.

Gist of Idea

Are names descriptions, if the description is unknown, false, not special, or contains names?

Source

comment on Bertrand Russell (On Denoting [1905]) by Gregory McCullogh - The Game of the Name 8.74

Book Reference

McCulloch,Gregory: 'The Game of the Name' [OUP 1989], p.268


A Reaction

The best reply on behalf of Russell is probably to concede all of these points, but deny that any of them are fatal. Most replies will probably say that they are possible true descriptions, rather than actual limited, confused or false ones.