ABSTRACT
Quine proposed his distinction between a 'purely referential' and a 'not purely referential' use of definite singular terms, he thought of it as restricted to the use of definite noun phrases in opaque positions. Donnellan then found it to be applicable to their use in transparent positions, after which Partee extended its application to indefinite noun phrases as well, both in opaque positions and in transparent ones. When Quine and others proposed their distinction between a referential use of referring expressions and an attributive use, they did so solely on the basis of their conviction that referentially used descriptions were, but attributively used descriptions were not, subject to the substitutivity of identity. Substitutivity of identity, the only criterion that has been offered by the proponents of the distinction at issue as a means to discriminate between attributive and referential uses, can be of no avail to the perplexed hearer.
