Philosophy of Language

On Denoting

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Bertrand Russell

1905

Published as a journal article in Mind in 1905 and widely regarded as one of the most influential papers in the history of analytic philosophy, On Denoting introduces Russell's theory of definite descriptions. Against earlier accounts that required every meaningful phrase like "the present King of France" to pick out an existing entity, Russell shows that such phrases can be meaningfully analysed as logical constructions without postulating non-existent objects. The paper transforms the philosophy of language, resolves puzzles about negative existentials, and establishes logical analysis as the central method of the analytic tradition.