Grice, Donnellan, and Jones's butler

Speranza

Grice, like Donnellan (Grice credits Donnellan) is concerned not only with the usual IDENTIFICATORY use (that pertains to pragmatics, not semantics) of 'the' (and definite descriptions in general) and the more interesting NON-IDENTIFICATORY uses.

Grice provides a scenario for the non-identificatory use of a descriptive phrase (that does not use 'the', incidentally):

"A group of men is discussing the situation arising from the death of a business acquaintance, of whose private life they know nothing, expect that (as they think) he lived extravantly, with a household staff which included a butler. One of them says,

i. Well, Jones's butler will be seeking a new position.

--- Grice notes that it is always appropriate to expand a non-identificatory with 'whoever he is' --.

That's still quite different from what Grice calls the 'stroke of a pen' (or tongue).

ii. Jones's butler, let's call him Willoughby, will be seeking a new position.