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    Russell's elimination of descriptive phrases via contextu... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Russell's argument that 'the author of Waverley' lacks meaning is invalid because it equivocates on two senses of 'meaning'.

    Russell's elimination of descriptive phrases via contextual definition preserves truth conditions but cannot account for the epistemic difference Jones identifies, confirming his target sense of 'meaning' is selectively narrow.

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    Key Terms

    Contextual definition(as the method Frege uses for operators)
    A way of defining something not by stating what it is in isolation, but by explaining how it functions or what it means only within a larger system or framework.
    Elimination of descriptive phrases(as Russell's main philosophical contribution)
    Russell's technique for breaking down complex descriptions (like 'the current king of France') into simpler logical statements to avoid confusion about what exists.
    Epistemic
    "Epistemic" relates to knowledge—how we know things, what counts as knowledge, and whether we can trust what we believe to be true. It comes from the Greek word for knowledge and is used to describe questions about the reliability and validity of our beliefs and understanding. For example, "epistemic humility" means acknowledging the limits of what you can actually know for certain.
    Jones(as used in logic and philosophy examples)
    A made-up person used as an example in a philosophical argument (like using 'John' or 'Sally' in a math problem).

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    Russell
    # Russell Russell most commonly refers to **Bertrand Russell**, a highly influential British philosopher, logician, and social critic (1872-1970) who fundamentally changed how we think about logic, language, and knowledge. He's famous for showing that common-sense reasoning can contain hidden contradictions and for arguing that philosophy should use the precision of mathematics to solve problems. Russell also became a prominent public intellectual who wrote about everything from religion to nuclear weapons, making him one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century.
    Truth conditions(used to describe how we determine whether a thought accurately represents reality)
    The specific circumstances or facts that would make a statement true or false—what has to be the case for a thought to be correct.
    meaning(Possible-worlds semantic theory of meaning)
    A rule specifying what an expression would stand for if the world were a certain way, rather than what the expression actually stands for in the current circumstance

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    Russell's argument that 'the author of Waverley' lacks meaning is invalid becaus...

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