On Denoting
"On Denoting" is an essay by Bertrand Russell from 1905. The essay was published in the philosophy journal Mind in 1905. It was reprinted, in both a special 2005 anniversary issue of the same journal and in Russell's Logic and Knowledge, 1956. The essay is one of the most significant and influential philosophical essays of the 20th century. In it, Russell introduces definite and indefinite descriptions, formulates descriptivism with regard to proper names, and characterises proper names as "disguised" or "abbreviated" definite descriptions.