 Why suppose that definite descriptions fail to refer? After all, we certainly seem to use them to talk about particular objects; when I say “I want the sloop to the right of that one,” I seem to be expressing a desire to possess a particular sloop, not just a desire to be relieved from slooplessness in some complicated fashion. What’s more, we can substitute definite descriptions for names and indexicals in most linguistic contexts. Naively then, it might seem reasonable to posit that, if names and indexicals refer, then so too do token definite descriptions. Russell, however, did not lack for motivation in his claim that definite descriptions fail to refer. Consider assertive utterances of the following sentences: