IDB 493 Philosophy of Linguistics

1. IDB 493Philosophy of Linguistics S. Nalan Büyükkantarcıoğlu Set# 2

2. The study of the structure and use of language • philosophy of language • linguistics philosophy of communication pragmatics

3. Philosophy of language: • inquiringinto the nature of meaning, and seekingto explain what it means to "mean" something. • four central problems: the nature of meaning,language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language and reality. • how language and meaning relate to truth and the world • how language relates to the minds of both the speaker and the interpreter • what speakers and listeners do with language in communication.

4. Philosophers are interested in language for three reasons, (1) First, they want to know in greater depth how language works. The philosophy of language sets out to provide deep insights into certain general features of language such as reference, truth, meaning and necessity.

5. (2) Second, since 1950 it has been realized that studying language is a new and effective tool for studying the nature of the human mind. • (3) Third, now, analytic philosophers believe that the other great problems of philosophy should be studied, not only directly, but also via a focus on the language they employ. These philosophers believe that they have new and better approaches to the great problems than did the philosophers of previous centuries. In other words, there has been progress in philosophy, and those persons who are unaware of the philosophy of language are simply not at the frontiers.

6. 20th century philosophy : two turns 19th century idealistic philosophy 1st turn 2nd turn Linguisticsbecame the central concern for philosophers Language was the central concern for philosophers No attention to scientific linguistics

7. 1st turn: (linguistic philosophy) • logical empiricism • ordinary language philosophy • Wittgenstein’s philosophies • diagnosing philosophical problems as due to the confusion about language, and • delineating the limits of language

8. 2nd turn: Feeling the need to inform their thinking about language by what the science of language had to say. Quine: examining current linguistics and applied linguistic theories he found to philosphical problems. Setting the early example of how linguistics could be used in philosophy. • Chomsky • Katz & Fodor • Ryle • Austin

9. Philosophical interest in language is maintained by foundational and conceptual questions in linguistics, quintessentially philosophical problems about the connections between mind, language and the world, and issues about philosophical methodology

10. What is the relevance of Chomsky's work to the philosophy of language? • What differs his work from the earlier ones?

11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHS1NraVsAc&feature=channel • http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20020604.pdf The Second Linguistic Turn: Chomsky And The Philosophy of Language [ Amitabha Das Gupta

12. HRP. How do you conceive of the relationship between linguistics and phi- losophy? Chomsky:The status of philosophy as distinct from the sciences or history is artifi- cial. Until the nineteenth century there was no such distinction. You can't answer the question whether Hume or Kant were philosophers or scientists-they were both. Kant was working on foundations of physics; Hume was studying what we would call psychology-whatever makes the mind work. The split between the te Professor of Lingtristiw and Philosophy at MIT, where be since 1955. His recent books include On Nature and Language Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind (2000), both pwb- University Press. This interview was condwtediprProfissor Weinstein on June 4,2002. fields developed later. Philosophy can be what it likes: it can be studying the con- ceptual foundations of some discipline; it can choose to study problems that are in one or another field; and it's traditionally studied problems that are in the field that later became linguistics. For example, when Descartes is talking about language, is he a linguist or a philosopher? The question has no particular meaning.