Subject: philosophy of lang

the following is a book which readers of this list might find of interest . for more information please visit http : / / mitpress . mit . edu / promotions / books / ostdps98 definite descriptions a reader edited by gary ostertag bertrand russell 's theory of definite descriptions sparked an ongoing debate concerning the proper logical and linguistic analysis of definite descriptions . while it is now widely acknowledged that , like the indexical expressions ' i ' , ' here ' , and ' now ' , definite descriptions in natural language are context-sensitive , there is significant disagreement as to the ultimate challenge this context-sensitivity poses to russell 's theory . this reader is intended both to introduce students to the philosophy of language via the theory of descriptions , and to provide scholars in analytic philosophy with ready access to some of the central contributions in this area . it includes classic works by russell , carnap , strawson , lambert , donnellan , grice , peacocke , kripke , wettstein , soames , neale , and schiffer . gary ostertag is a visiting scholar in the department of philosophy at new york university . a bradford book august 1998 6 x 9 , 448 pp . paper isbn 0-262 - 65049 - 5 jud wolfskill associate publicist phone : ( 617 ) 253-2079 mit press fax : ( 617 ) 253-1709 five cambridge center e - mail : wolfskil @ mit . edu ambridge , ma 02142-1493 http : / / mitpress . mit . edu
