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Single Idea 10440

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 2. Descriptions / a. Descriptions ]

Full Idea

An object can be described without being referred to.

Gist of Idea

An object can be described without being referred to

Source

Kent Bach (What Does It Take to Refer? [2006], Intro)

Book Ref

'Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language', ed/tr. Lepore,E/Smith,B [OUP 2008], p.519

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A Reaction

I'm not clear how this is possible for a well-known object, though it is clearly possible for a speculative object, such as a gadget I would like to buy. In the former case reference seems to occur even if the speaker is trying to avoid it.

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The 4 ideas with the same theme [general ideas about stating characteristics of objects]:

14455

'I met a unicorn' is meaningful, and so is 'unicorn', but 'a unicorn' is not [Russell]

7760	Russell only uses descriptions attributively, and Strawson only referentially [Donnellan, by Lycan]

10440

An object can be described without being referred to [Bach]

15158

Indefinite descriptions are quantificational in subject position, but not in predicate position [Soames]