ABSTRACT
P. F. Strawson made seminal contributions to philosophical logic, metaphysics, epistemology and meta-philosophy. He developed austere and abstract arguments in lucid and elegant fashion. His early writings form part of ordinary language philosophy in so far as they criticize orthodoxies of logical analysis by reference to ordinary use. Strawson argued that if philosophical problems originate in actual linguistic framework-as ideal language philosophers granted-the introduction of novel framework merely sweep these problems under carpet unless its relation to old framework is properly understood. The idea that descriptive metaphysics scrutinizes conceptual structures beneath the surface of language may suggest that it pursues aims similar to those of Moore, Russell, the early Wittgenstein, and logical positivists. Strawson accuses Russell of confusing meaning, which is feature of type-expressions, with reference and truth, which are features of the uses of expressions. "The present king of France is bald" is meaningful, even though its present use fails to make statement that is either true or false.
