Bertrand Russell’s Theory of Descriptions

A negative existential statement is a statement about a nonexistent object, person, or concept, in other words, a statement about something that does not exist.  Initially, making such a statement seems quite easy and straightforward.  There are many things that we intuitively accept as having no existence, such as mythical creatures (like unicorns and flying horses), fictional characters (such as the Greek gods, Jane Eyre, or the Terminator), and scientifically impossible phenomena (such as the fountain of youth or the secret to turning lead into gold).  However, some philosophers have said that a statement that a particular person or object does not exist (for example, “the fountain of youth does not exist”) is inherently contradictory or even logically impossible.  As Bertrand Russell notes in his essay “Descriptions,” “[t]he question of ‘unreality’ . . . is a very important one.  Misled by grammar, the great majority of those logicians who have dealt with it on mistaken lines.  They have regarded grammatical form as a surer guide in analysis than, in fact, it is.  And they have not known what differences in grammatical form are important.”  We must analyze some examples of negative existential statements more closely in  order to see why some scholars find them so problematic. 

A negative existential statement is generally expressed in a sentence in the form “X does not exist.”  Negative existential statements can be singular, referring to a specific individual object or person that does not exist.  An example of a singular negative existential statement is “Apollo does not exist.”  In other words, the individual person or god known as “Apollo” does not exist.  Negative existential statements can also be general, referring to a category or a group sharing similar characteristics.  An example of a general negative existential statement is “unicorns do not exist.”  This general negative existential statement goes beyond saying that a specific, individual unicorn does not exist.  Rather, it intends to convey that unicorns in general do not exist; there exist in the world no objects or beings with the characteristics that define “unicorns.” 

Through the theory of description, Russell avoids the philosophical conundrum of having to accept the existence of something before concluding that it does not exist.  The necessity of presuming the existence of an object before declaring its non-existence means, essentially, that there is no way to rationally, logically, and accurately declare that a given object or person does not exist.  Thus, negative existential statements such as “Apollo does not exist” or “unicorns do not exist” would be rendered meaningless, even nonsensical.  However, such an interpretation of negative existential statements not only clashes with our intuitive understanding of the world but would also make it impossible to discuss the nature of existence in any meaningful way.