review ostertag ostertag gary ed 1998 definite descriptions reader cambridge mit press xii 411pp 30 00 collection begins substantive introductory essay editor followed fifteen papers majority originally published journals anthologies although originally chapters parts chapters books collection ends useful bibliography readings arranged topic first fifteen papers ostertag anthology russell 1905 paper denoting remaining papers arranged less chronological order ending 1995 paper stephen schiffer titled descriptions indexicals belief reports dilemmas ones expect one deviation chronological sequence stephen neale 1993 paper grammatical form logical form incomplete symbols placed sequence several papers authored coauthored russell presumably reason placing neale paper chronological order illuminates technical background notions whose grasp essential understanding debate represented ensuing papers neale discusses distinction grammatical logical form raises questions appropriate way represent ordinary language quantifiers semantic theory discusses russell claim definite descriptions incomplete symbols discusses implications attempt give compositional semantics sentences containing descriptions papers collection classic ones strawson donnellan kripke well recently influential papers authors peacocke wettstein soames neale ostertag regrets could nt included papers volume regrets instance including work marga reimer nathan salmon ostertag compensates gap small way spending time introductory essay reimer arguments treating f quantifier salmon arguments wettstein anti russellian views ostertag introductory chapter breaks mold sort essay sense nt contain summary central arguments collected papers possibly ostertag felt since majority papers collection classics field least frequently referred others field unnecessary encapsulate central arguments way presumably instructors using textbook philosophy language course familiar arguments contained papers instead ostertag essay presents admission partial view twists turns debate taken ostertag begins brief historical account russell reasons moving away extreme realist view influence meinong earlier accepted position defended denoting ostertag lays treatment russell gave definite descriptions principia mathematica noting contortions russell go represent scope differences notation ostertag ends section explaining method representing natural language quantifiers method restricted quantification favored contemporary russellians neale followed interesting section ostertag argues contemporary significance russell work rather different significance russell first published denoting partly due fact russell treatment descriptions devices quantification readily incorporated contemporary grammatical theory ostertag turns next discussion referential attributive distinction ostertag conclusion referential uses descriptions adequately accounted gricean strategy cases description used referentially must distinguish meant said referential understanding retrieved via gricean mechanisms implicature said ostertag nt explicitly discuss neo gricean relevance theoretical alternatives appeared recently literature challenge gricean solution however ostertag footnotes point readers alternative accounts ostertag concludes discussion problem incomplete descriptions e g descriptions table covered books strawson first drew attention discussion various challenges marga reimer others russell assimilation descriptions quantifiers ostertag seems pessimistic russellians deal adequately problems concludes discussion claim accept contextsensitivity descriptions seems must longer possession account meaning quantifier phrase f determined meanings constituents p 28 overall ostertag essay interesting however one small printing error leads difficulties following thread ostertag argument p 24 references sentences numbered 2 3 sentences numbered 5 6 preface ostertag remarks somewhat surprising free standing collection essays descriptions yet appeared issues definite descriptions form one core topics philosophy language major textbooks philosophy language contain section devoted issues free standing collections essays topics central philosophy language appeared years instance yourgrau 1990 salmon soames 1988 seem need collection present one could useful upper level undergraduate graduate seminar devoted topic descriptions philosophy language textbook comes close much coverage topic ludlow 1997 contains seven essays heading definite indefinite descriptions topic indefinite descriptions addressed ostertag collection one disappointments volume related one major shortcomings volume papers ostertag collection philosophers classic philosophical debate tended focus narrow range issues alleged distinction referential attributive uses definite descriptions dominant one linguists worked topic descriptions generally interested much broader set issues best current work philosophers descriptions stephen neale crossfertilized work linguists hence would good include work linguists open philosophical discussion wider range issues also guard chance students come away impression work topic professionals marginal relevance philosophical debate important recent work linguists topic referential attributive distinction comparison definite indefinite descriptions socalled generic specific predicative uses descriptions claim found work early strawson classic response russell definite indefinite distinction related given new distinction information conversational context semantics pragmatics distinction applies descriptions representative authors irene heim 1989 ruth kempson 1986 villy rouchota 1992 1994 addition technical work linguistics explores extent definiteness semantic property expressions hence extent possible offer linguistically universal characterization definiteness work represented recent collection papers edited eric reuland alice ter meulen see reuland ter meulen 1987 peter ludlow preface philosophy language textbook mentioned remarks philosophy language least core part matured point spun linguistic theory ludlow 1997 p xiii ludlow takes mean certain core problems philosophy language naturalized via incorporation linguistics uses claim justify inclusion work linguists collection alongside classics philosophy language sure would go far ludlow claiming core parts philosophy language part linguistics given natural languages well speakers languages objects study cognitive sciences makes sense philosophers language pay attention cognitive scientists saying things means paying attention linguistic research also means paying attention work language psychologists anthropologists computer scientists others give one example crossfertilization might occur developmental psychologists long interested children master distinction definite indefinite referring expressions see instance karmiloff smith 1979 emslie stevenson 1981 charting development children semantic pragmatic skills could potentially help clarify issues correct semantic representation definites well help resolution questions concerning boundary semantic pragmatic said stressed text use mainstream philosophy language class whose principle aim introduce students debate definite descriptions unfolded last 90 years volume unsurpassed editor clearly given lot thought picking papers representative mainstream debate would unreasonable demand tributaries well new offshoots debate represented single manageably compact volume perhaps editor publishers consider future bringing companion volume papers representing wider debate brought together bibliography emslie h stevenson r 1981 pre school children use articles definite indefinite referring expressions journal child language 8 313328 heim 1989 semantics definite indefinite noun phrases new york garland press karmiloff smith 1979 functional approach child language cambridge cambridge university press kempson r 1986 definite nps context dependence unified theory anaphora travis ed meaning interpretation oxford blackwell 209239 ludlow p ed 1997 readings philosophy language cambridge mit press reuland e ter meulen 1987 representation definiteness cambridge mit press rouchota v 1992 referential attributive distinction lingua 87 137167 rouchota v 1994 indefinite descriptions journal linguistics 30 441475 salmon n soames eds 1988 propositions attitudes oxford oxford university press yourgrau p ed 1990 demonstratives oxford oxford university press anne bezuidenhout associate professor philosophy core member linguistics university south carolina columbia sc interested pragmatic aspects language communication attempted apply insights relevance theory traditional debates philosophy language debate referential attributive uses descriptions debate correct semantics propositional attitude ascriptions also currently working cooper cutting department psychology illinois state university experimental investigation pragmatic processes involved utterance interpretation