Definite Description: From Denoting to Referring

Abstract

Russel's theory of definite description initiated the linguistic turn of philosophy at the beginning of the 20th century, and sparked a series of debate on referring.The present study briefly reviewed the major developments of studies on definite description, and found that studies of definite description progressed along theroute of language-world-mind, and crystallized as the semantic-pragmatic-cognitive turn, thus realizing the turn from denoting to referring. It is expected that the present study may shed light on the today’s study of phrases of definite description.