On Denoting: 100 Years Later

Description, Meaning, Denotation

On Denoting: 100 Years Later

September 29-30, 2005

call for papers

In 1892, when Mind was still in its teens, its editor wrote:

“In general, we desire to publish only such articles as really advance the subject of which they treat a step further. Nor ought this to be considered an extravagant aim for the only English philosophical journal in existence.” 1

Perhaps no other article fulfils this objective better than Bertrand Russell’s “On Denoting”, which appeared in Mind in October 1905.2 

This year, the Philosophy Institute of Eötvös University and the MTA–ELTE Philosophy of Language Research Group celebrates the publication of Russell’s groundbreaking article as part of its annual conference series “Language, Understanding, Interpretation”. The event will be held at the Philosophy Institute of the Humanities Faculty at Eötvös University (ELTE BTK 1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4./i.).

The centenary conference focuses on the lively debate that to this day surrounds the issues and solutions raised by “On Denoting”; an additional theme is Russell’s oeuvre (including his work in the history of philosophy and social philosophy). Submissions are sought in these areas for 15-minute panel presentations—in English or Hungarian—from philosophers as well as from colleagues within the natural sciences and the humanities who work on the philosophical, methodological and logical foundations of their fields. Graduate students are encouraged to submit. Invited speakers will hold 30-minute plenary sessions. The primary language of the conference is Hungarian, with several plenary sessions and panels held in English.

The centenary Russell edition of the journal Világosság will publish selected papers from the conference as well as a modern, revised Hungarian translation of “On Denoting”.

Contributors are asked to submit the title of their presentation, a 10-line abstract, school/institute affiliation and e-mail address. Submissions should be sent to the e-mail addresses below by May 31, 2005: 

Kelemen János     and  Zvolenszky Zsófia

jim218@axelero.hu   zz207@nyu.edu

Contributors will be notified about acceptances by July 15, 2005.

1 Based on Russell’s work and Peter F. Strawson’s criticism of it, we have learned that the same definite description’s denotation may change with context. the description “the only English philosophical journal in existence” is no exception. On the one hand, its denotation partly depends on when the description is interpreted; today, it no longer denotes Mind or any other English journal. On the other hand, “English” here means “from England” rather than “English-speaking”; for it was exactly in 1892 that the Philosophical Review was launched in North America, joining the Journal of Speculative Philosophy, which was then celebrating its 25th (and one before last) birthday.

2 Although this same editor made no attempt to conceal that he almost rejected Russell’s article.