ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how to construct three sequences of formulae, each of which is in some way concerned with the number of things that possess a certain property. Early this century Russell advanced an important theory about the analysis of propositions containing what are known as definite descriptions. Definite descriptions are most commonly expressed by phrases of the form ‘the so-and-so’; simple examples of propositions of the kind under discussion are, ‘The author of Ulysses was an Irishman’, ‘The present King of France is wise’, ‘The mosque in Lima is large’. Russell’s theory is – among other things – a way of avoiding such absurdities.
