DESCRIPTIVE SINGULAR TERMS

• Authors: Kijania-Placek Katarzyna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In “Descriptive indexicals and indexical descriptions” Nunberg claimed that only indexicals among singular terms may have descriptive uses, i.e. have non-singular contributions to the propositions they are used to express. In this respect they differ from proper names or definite descriptions. In “Lessons from Descriptive Indexicals”, Sæbø shows that this conjecture is untenable, providing examples of the descriptive uses of both proper names and definite descriptions. This paper offers an account of the descriptive uses of all of the singular terms and provides an alternative to Saebø’s account. Sæbø’s analysis rests on the assumption that the propositional contribution of all singular terms used descriptively is a singular concept. The author will argue against this assumption and her proposal will offer a uniform analysis of the descriptive uses of singular terms that is not constrained by it.

Keywords

EN

DEFINITE DESCRIPTIONS; DESCRIPTIVE ANAPHORA; INDEXICALS; PROPER NAMES; SINGULAR TERMS; SÆBØ

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Institute of Philosophy of Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic
• Journal: Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 290 – 315

Contributors

author

Kijania-Placek Katarzyna

• Institute of Philosophy and the Jagiellonian Centre for Law, Language and Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 52 Grodzka St., 31-049 Krakow, Poland