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1、OnDenoting(1905)byBertrandRussellOriginallyprintedinMind,1905;textfromLogicandKnowledge.Bya'denotingphrase'Imeanaphrasesuchasanyoneofthefollowing:aman,someman,anyman,everyman,allmen,thepresentKingofEngland,thepresentKingofFrance,thecenterofmassofthesolarsystematthefirstinstantoft
2、hetwentiethcentury,therevolutionoftheearthroundthesun,therevolutionofthesunroundtheearth.Thusaphraseisdenotingsolelyinvirtueofitsform.Wemaydistinguishthreecases:(1)Aphrasemaybedenoting,andyetnotdenoteanything;e.g.,'thepresentKingofFrance'.(2)Aphrasemaydenoteonedefiniteobject;e.g.
3、,'thepresentKingofEngland'denotesacertainman.(3)Aphrasemaydenoteambiguously;e.g.'aman'denotesnotmanymen,butanambiguousman.Theinterpretationofsuchphrasesisamatterofconsiderabledifficulty;indeed,itisveryhardtoframeanytheorynotsusceptibleofformalrefutation.Allthedifficultieswithwhic
4、hIamacquaintedaremet,sofarasIcandiscover,bythetheorywhichIamabouttoexplain.Thesubjectofdenotingisofverygreatimportance,notonlyinlogicandmathematics,butalsointhetheoryofknowledge.Forexample,weknowthatthecenterofmassofthesolarsystematadefiniteinstantissomedefinitepoint,andwecanaffi
5、rmanumberofpropositionsaboutit;butwehavenoimmediateacquaintancewiththispoint,whichisonlyknowntousbydescription.Thedistinctionbetweenacquaintanceandknowledgeaboutisthedistinctionbetweenthethingswehavepresentationsof,andthethingsweonlyreachbymeansofdenotingphrases.Itoftenhappenstha
6、tweknowthatacertainphrasedenotesunambiguously,althoughwehavenoacquaintancewithwhatitdenotes;thisoccursintheabovecaseofthecenterofmass.Inperceptionwehaveacquaintancewithobjectsofperception,andinthoughtwehaveacquaintancewithobjectsofamoreabstractlogicalcharacter;butwedonotnecessari
7、lyhaveacquaintancewiththeobjectsdenotedbyphrasescomposedofwordswithwhosemeaningsweareacquainted.Totakeaveryimportantinstance:thereseemsnoreasontobelievethatweareeveracquaintedwithotherpeople'sminds,seeingthatthesearenotdirectlyperceived;hencewhatweknowaboutthemisobtainedthroughde
8、noting.Allthinkinghastostartfromacquaint
