The existence entailments of definite descriptions

Paul Elbourne (1)

1 Department of Linguistics, Queen Mary

Contrary to a claim made by Kaplan (Mind 114:933-1003, 2005) and Neale (Mind 114:809-871, 2005), the readings available to sentences containing definite descriptions embedded under propositional attitude verbs and conditionals do pose a significant problem for the Russellian theory of definite descriptions. The Fregean theory of descriptions, on the other hand, deals easily with the relevant data.

Mots clés: Definite descriptions; Propositional attitudes; Conditionals; Presupposition

Paul Elbourne. The existence entailments of definite descriptions. Linguistics and Philosophy, 2010, 33 (1), pp.1-10. ⟨10.1007/s10988-010-9072-3⟩. ⟨hal-00612824⟩