The Philosophy of Language Historical Foundations and Contemporary I

This book deals with the philosophy of language and with what is at issue in the philosophy of language. Due to its intensity and diversity, the philosophy of language has attained the position of first philosophy in this century. To show this is the task

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The Philosophy of Language Historical Foundations and (7onter.npora~ Issues by ALBERT BORGMANN

MARTINUS NIjHOFF / THE HAGUE / 1974

© I974 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form

ISBN-13 : 978-90-247-1589-3 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-010-2025-1

e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2025-1

To my parents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

XI PART ONE

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE CHAPTER ONE

I

THE ORIGIN OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

3

I. The accessibility of the original reflections on language. Heraclitus (3); 2. Language and thought in Heraclitus (6); 3. Homonymy and etymology (7); 4. The Myol;, and language (I I); 5. The ambiguity of the Myol;, (14); 6. The dispersion of the A6yor;. The Sophists (16)

CHAPTER TWO LANGUAGE

THE

FOUNDATION

OF

THE

PHILOSOPHY

OF

19

7. The transition from the harmony with language to the investigation of language. Plato (19); 8. The origin of language from nature or convention (22); 9. The interrelation of word and thing (24); 10. Language and the metaphysical distinction (26); II. The distinction between grammar and logic. Aristotle (29); 12. Language as instrument. Rhetoric and poetics (32); 13. Language as the theme and the basis of Aristotle's investigations (33); 14. Language as a segment of reality. The Stoics and the classical grammarians (35) CHATER THREE

THE EXPLORATION OF THE RANGE OF LANGUAGE

15. The study of language in the Middle Ages (37); 16. Terms and things. John Buridan (38); 17. The antagonism of language and reality (44); 18. Speculative grammar. Thomas of Erfuct (47); 19. The interconnections of being, understanding, and signifying (49); 20. The depth and extent of the signifying power of language (53); 21. Theology and language. Thomas of Aquino (59); 22. Analogy (60); 23. Metaphor (63); 24. Language and rational theology (66)

37

VIII

TABLE OF CO NTENTS

CHAPTER FOUR

LANGUAGE AND THE RISE OF THE MODERN ERA

68

25. Language and the foundation of science and reality. Descartes (6S); 26. The problem of the uniqueness and autonomy of language (70); 27. The sciences and the humanities. Vico (73); 2S. Vico's New Science. The principles of language (74); 29. The New Science and the natural sciences (7S); 30. The origin and progress of language. Rousseau and Herder (So) ; 31. Ontological and ontic language. Humboldt (S4)

PART TWO

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE CHAPTER ONE

LANGUAGE AND PRECISION

89

9I

32. The linguistic turn. Wittgenstein's Tractatus (91); 33. The conflict of precision and expression (94); 34. Formalized languages (97); 35. Russell's theory of definite descriptions (99); 36. Limitations of the theory of definite descriptions (102); 37. The explanatory status of logical analyses of language (106); 3S. The grounds of logical analyses of language (lOS) CHAPTER TWO

ORDINARY LANGUAGE

II3

39. Access to reality through ordinary language. Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations (113); 40. Speak