Philosopher

Keith Donnellan

Overview

Keith Sedgwick Donnellan (; June 25, 1931 – February 20, 2015) was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy (later professor emeritus) at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Donnellan contributed to the philosophy of language, notably to the analysis of proper names and definite descriptions. He criticized Bertrand Russell's theory of definite descriptions for overlooking the distinction between referential and attributive use of definite descriptions.

Donnellan spent most of his career at UCLA, having also previously taught at the university where he had earned his PhD, Cornell University.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Philosophers who discussed Keith Donnellan

• Hilary Putnam
• Gareth Evans (philosopher)
• Nathan Salmón

Ideas Keith Donnellan discusses

• Philosophy
• Madagascar
• Princeton University
• P. F. Strawson
• Socrates
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Bertrand Russell
• Saul Kripke
• Definite description
• Proper noun
• Philosophy of language
• Cornell University

Place in the tradition

Part of American philosophy.

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