Existence and Knowledge

Existence and Knowledge

RUSSELL'S THEORY OF DESCRIPTIONS AND THE SUBSTITUTABILITY PROBLEM IN ATTITUDE CONTEXTS

Document Type : Research Article

Author
Mohammad ali Abbasiyan chaleshtori
Assistant Professor of Payame Noor University
Abstract
Any semantic theory of definite descriptions for sentences of natural language, claiming to be a comprehensive one, should be able to provide a proper analysis of the sentences like" the author of Waverley was a poet," and" The president of Iran is wise." Similarly, such a theory should give a plausible account for the problem concerning the sentences like "The king of France is bald", and "The round square is round". In the same way, the theory should process the adequacy needed for explaining and analyzing the occurrence of definite descriptions in de dicto / de re attitude sentences, such as "Jones believes that Scott was the author of Waverley." and "About the president of Iran, Smith believes that he is wise". Likewise, it ought to give a satisfactory solution to the problem attached to the chain of sentences like (a)"Jones wished to know whether Scott was the author of Waverley," (b) "Scott was the author of Waverley," and (c) "Jones wished to know whether Scott was Scott."
Russell claims that his quantifying theory of definite descriptions has the adequacy and capability needed for analyzing and explaining the de dicto/ de re attitude contexts and is able to resolve their problem. But we shall see that Russell’s claim is not correct and his account is failed.
Keywords
DEFINITE DESCRIPTIONS
DE RE / DE DICTO PREPOSITIONAL ATTITUDES
THE PROBLEM OF SUBSTITUTIVE
OBJECT - DEPENDENT / INDEPENDENT PROPOSITIONS
QUANTIFICATION THEORY OF DESCRIPTIONS

 

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