Keith Donnellan

Who is Keith Donnellan?

Keith Donnellan is a contemporary philosopher and Professor Emeritus of the UCLA department of Philosophy. He spent most of his career at UCLA and, before that, at Cornell, from where he earned his PhD. Donnellan has contributed to the philosophy of language, most notably to the analysis of proper names and definite descriptions. For instance, Donnellan criticized Bertrand Russell's theory of definite descriptions for overlooking the distinction between referential and attributive use of definite descriptions.