Russell's Theory of Descriptions in On Denoting
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this essay is to give an exposition of the theory of descriptions as it is first set forth by Russell in his article 'On Denoting' found in Mind 1905.
Each section of this article will be explained in my own words, with the exception of some of the symbolic logic. Russell's own words are indicated by speech marks.
I have tried not to simply re-write what Russell has said, but rather endeavoured to explain, in an original way, each part of Russell's theses, and in the order that they are found in the article.
Firstly, I will outline the article 'On Denoting' giving my own understanding of the theory of descriptions as Russell introduces it. It should be noted that the phrase 'theory of descriptions' is not used in this article, but is coined later in Russell's philosophy.
AN OUTLINE OF 'ON DENOTING'
The theory of descriptions is Russell's solution to the problem's caused by the interpretation of denoting phrases.
This solution can be found in his article 'On Denoting' (Mind, 1905). What follows is an outline of the theory as it is proposed in that article.
A denoting phrase is a phrase such as the following: a man, some man, any man, every man, all men, the present king of England, the present king of France.
These denoting phrases can be classed into either one of two groups; those containing definite descriptions and those containing indefinite descriptions.
A denoting phrase is a denoting phrase purely because of its form, not its 'content'. By this is meant, for example, that a denoting phrase need not actually denote anything in order to be a denoting phrase, it simply needs to have the form of a phrase that is...
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...t the object is an actual constituent of that proposition. The proposition contains merely the constituents of those words contained in the denoting phrase.
Therefore, with every proposition we could possibly apprehend (whether true or not) each of their constituents are real entities with which we do have immediate acquaintance, so long as we can apprehend them.
The minds of others are not known to us by acquaintance but by denoting phrases. We can then know the properties of other minds while not knowing the actual minds themselves, because we can know the constituents of the denoting phrases used to introduce them to us.
Hence, of those propositions that have the actual mind as a constituent we cannot know them.
Lastly, Russell begs the reader not to go against his theory unless at least the reader can himself reveal his own theory on denotation.
he comes to term with three certainties: the existence of the mind as the thing that thinks,
Having no sleep can lead to unhealthy lives, relationships, one’s ability to function and interact with the world, and an unbalanced state of body, mind, and spirit. Sleep is crucial to an individual because it is a time where the body rests and restores energy and develops important information and without sleep, the body will slowly disintegrate. Poor sleep quality often is associated with Insomnia, but the two are two different items. Poor sleep quality is where an individual does not get at least 4 hours of sleep, but is still able to sleep and does not have a normal sleeping cycle. Insomnia is classified as a sleeping disorder, where one persistently lacks the ability to sleep or maintain sleep. This paper goes into a deep discussion of what Insomnia is and the two different types, the causes of Insomnia and how it affects a person’s lifestyle, a comparison between Men and Women who have Insomnia, and possible treatments to aid this disorder.
...e who suffer from mental illnesses by creating an intriguing story that showed the injustices and lack of understanding present in the 19th century.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s powerful story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is about a woman who was driven to madness by her depression and controlling husband. The story is told by the wife, in first person, and is based on Gilman’s own life experience. Gilman suffered from post-partum depression after her daughter was born and was prescribed the “resting cure” which is resting and isolation. In the story, the narrator’s husband puts her in isolation because he believes that will cure her of her depression and breakdowns. He won’t let her do anything, so she turns to writing in her secret journal to try and cure her depression. Since she has nothing to do all day, she turns her attention to the yellow wallpaper in the room. She becomes obsessed with it and begins to see a woman trapped inside the pattern. The wallpaper dominates the narrator’s imagination and she becomes possessed and secretive about hiding her obsession with it. The narrator suspects the her husband and sister are aware of her obsession so she starts to destroy the wallpaper and goes into a frenzy trying to free the caged woman in the pattern of the wallpaper. The narrator becomes insane, thinking that she also came out of the wallpaper, and creeps around the room, and when her husband checks on her, he faints because of what she has become, and she continues to creep around the room, stepping over body.
The Triangle Fire made a lasting impact on the future of America. March 25th, 1911, a day that changed everything. Fire engulfed the three stories of the Triangle Waist Company. Family members, firemen, and friends could only watch by the sidelines as 146 girls and boys perished. The vision of girls jumping from the windows to escape being burned alive, broke down even the most seasoned Fire Chief sending him down to the street with quivering lips. In 1910, 13 weeks on strike most companies accepted the unions’ demands but Triangle Waist Company denied the union, giving higher wages and shorter hours. If Triangle Waist Company had accepted the union, would the 146 girls and boys lived? The fire was a terrible tragedy that will never be forgotten but it changed the Industrial life. Following the Fire there was industrial reform, passing of legislation, and it led to women’s suffrage.
This thrilling event happened in New York on the late afternoon of March 25, 1911. The tendentious Max Blank and Isaac Harris owned the top three floors in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in the Asch Building. Most of the workers were Italian and European Jewish woman immigrants. It was near closing time for the young workers until that calm afternoon quickly turned into a frightening moment for everyone. At this moment people’s lives were flipped upside down forever when the fire broke out on the eighth floor in the Asch Building. To this day, there is no set cause as to why the fire started. All they have is that people heard an explosion that came from the eighth floor followed by bundles of clothes falling from the sky. The people soon noticed that not only were there bundle of clothes falling but those ‘bundles of clothes’ were actually some of the young workers jumping and falling from the window seals. The outburst of the fire was horrible, woman were falling through the ceiling while other taking their lives by jumping out the windows. Female workers found themselves in trouble when they tried to open the ninth floor doors to the Washington Place stairs but the doors appeared to be locked. On the other ...
American Philosophical Quarterly 21, no. 3 (1984): 227-36.
“Insomnia is the inability to obtain adequate amount or quality of sleep. The difficulty can be with falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both” (“Insomnia Encyclopedia“). Sleeping is a major point in physically and mentally restoring yourself for the tasks ahead. Most people say that about eight hours of sleep is an adequate amount, however it differs from person to person depending on their sex, age, and health conditions. An estimated one-third of the population suffers from some form of insomnia. “In recent studies, a survey reported that 30% of American women and 20% of American men took medication to help them sleep during the course of a year” (“Insomnia”). The medications these people took are called hypnotics. The causes of insomnia vary for different situations.
The problem I hope to expose in this paper is the lack of evidence in The Argument from Analogy for Other Minds supporting that A, a thought or feeling, is the only cause of B. Russell believes that there are other minds because he can see actions in others that are analogous to his own without thinking about them. He believes that all actions are caused by thoughts, but what happens when we have a reaction resulting as an action of something forced upon one’s self? Such as when a doctor hits your patellar tendon with a reflex hammer to test your knee-jerk reflex. Russell does not answer this question. He is only “highly probable” that we are to know other minds exist through his A is the cause of B postulate.
"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts a woman in isolation, struggling to cope with mental illness, which has been diagnosed by her husband, a physician. Going beyond this surface level, the reader sees the narrator as a developing feminist, struggling with the societal values of the time. As a woman writer in the late nineteenth century, Gilman herself felt the adverse effects of the male-centric society, and consequently, placed many allusions to her own personal struggles as a feminist in her writing. Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes a psychological journey that correlates with the advancement of her mental condition. The restrictions which society places on her as a woman have a worsening effect on her until illness progresses into hysteria. The narrator makes comments and observations that demonstrate her will to overcome the oppression of the male dominant society. The conflict between her views and those of the society can be seen in the way she interacts physically, mentally, and emotionally with the three most prominent aspects of her life: her husband, John, the yellow wallpaper in her room, and her illness, "temporary nervous depression." In the end, her illness becomes a method of coping with the injustices forced upon her as a woman. As the reader delves into the narrative, a progression can be seen from the normality the narrator displays early in the passage, to the insanity she demonstrates near the conclusion.
Researching for the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers as they are called heavily reminds me of Social Work. Their core beliefs and values correlate very closely to Social Work’s own core beliefs and values. For my paper, I will discuss Quakerism, their practices, beliefs, values, and how Quakerism supports human rights and equality.
A definite description is a phrase which is commonly written in the form ‘the so-and-so’ in which “so-and-so” is a singular noun. An Example of definite descriptions is “the President of Russia”. Apart from “the-so-and-so”, definite descriptions can also take the form of possessives such as “Mr. Smith’s daughter”.
the mind is not is a superb point of reasoning that can be applied on many different levels with
One knows that one causes some of one 's own ideas read in Principles of Human knowledge page 28. Since the mind is passive in perception, there are ideas which one 's own mind does not
We can know some propositions in a particular subject area by intuition alone, or by deducting them from intuited propositions.