What is a Definite Description? (Philosophical Definition)

This video provides a very brief definition of a definite description as defined by Bertrand Russell.

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Information for this video gathered from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and more! (#DefiniteDescription #BertrandRussell)

[sirbedivere]

I am currently reading Chapter 5 of Russell's The Problems of Philosophy, and this video has cleared up a lot of my confusions. Thank you.

[KenoticMuse]

Russell's mathematical interpretation of "definite description" seems correct. Whenever we use "the" of something, we usually mean it is the "only" of something or having the distinct title of something, and his statement expresses exactly that.

[cliffordhodge]

Some qualification needs to be made for establishing of context, of course, some indexing as to place and time.  So if you say, "I'm going to wash the car, " you have apparently given a definite description given that the context is assumed to be such that it is clearly your car that you intend to wash.  It is very common to use the definite article 'the' in a way that the context makes clear you don't mean anything in the universe with that property, but rather the one thing that would be presumed, given the circumstances of the utterance.  Or, a sentence embedded in a text in which just one thing with the property in question is discussed will be able to switch from a name to the definite description, as in a history book talking about Louis XIV and sometimes referring to him merely as "the king".

[theeskatelife]

Yes, too complicated. Therefore it makes no sense. QED

[mweibleii]

Sorry to interject a question here, but has Carneades defined 'concept' in a video? If not, then a short video as to the difference between concept, term, and word would be helpful.
Kind regards, Okami