Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Description theory: the thesis according to which the meaning of expressions corresponds to the description of the respective objects. Russell's theory of descriptions is a philosophical theory of how to understand definite descriptions, such as "the tallest man in the world." Russell argued that definite descriptions make two claims about the world there exists an object that satisfies the description, and there is only one object that satisfies the description._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Robert Stalnaker on Description Theory - Dictionary of Arguments
I 15 KripkeVsDescription Theory/Stalnaker: the description theory arises from a confusion between semantics and meta-semantics. >Semantics. Anti-Essentialism/Kripke/Stalnaker: the anti-essentialism arises from a confusion between semantics and metaphysics. >Essentialism, >Metaphysics. I 212 Purely descriptive language/Stalnaker: if we had a purely descriptive language, we would have no reference definition of general terms. >General terms, >Reference. On the other hand: Reference/causal theory of reference: (as a counter-position to descriptivism): the reference tells us how reference is acquired in general. - For names as for predicates. The knowledge about reference definition is then part of the language skills. >Causal theory of reference. I 212 Def Local Descriptivism/Lewis/Stalnaker: local descriptivism is simply a way to explain one part of the language by another ((s) according to Lewis and Stalnaker the only way). Global Descriptivism/LewisVs: global descriptivism makes it impossible to explain how statements can be wrong at all - this is Putnam’s Paradox ((s) then the expressions refer to "which things ever"). Then the properties and relations are always that what best makes the theory true. >Centered worlds. Additional Condition/Lewis: the simple terms have to split the world "at the joints". VsGlobal Descriptivism: 1) Global descriptivism would be holistic, i.e. what I think dependends on everything else that I think; 2) and it would be solipsistic, because depending on my causal relations: in that case "Tullius" means something else for me than for you. >Solipsism, >Holism._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Stalnaker I R. Stalnaker Ways a World may be Oxford New York 2003 |
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> Counter arguments against Stalnaker
> Counter arguments in relation to Description Theory
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27