8/10/2019 language and philosophy

1/2

Language and philosophy

What is the role of language in philosophy

A philosopher's conception of language affects the methodology of hisphilosophizing. As an example we analyze the role of language in thephilosophy of John Dewey. Dewey was an American philosopher prominentlyassociated with pragmatism [1]. In pragmatism, the truth of aproposition is associated with the practical consequences of accepting it [2].Dewey believed that ill-posed problems of traditional epistemology and metaphysicsarise from dualisms and dichotomies which had "underwritten" philosophy since the Greeks [2].For example, the well known distinction between appearance and reality [2]

Dewey talked exclusively in terms of a language that is action-oriented-- this contrasts deeplywith the traditional philosopher's object-oriented language. That is Dewey's useof language reflects thatall knowledge comes from our interaction or experience of the world. For Dewey the problems of philosophy or in particularframed in terms of a language of being results to serious errors by treating philosophicalideas as existing objects independent of us. This issue arise strongly in ethics

and metaphysics.Dewey was interested with what makes us know. Dewey asserted that language makes us know. That is, language is the instrument of inquiry.Language is not only in the formulation and communication of language but also in the formulation of it. This view is popular in the scienceswhere the insight provided by mathematics pave the way for great discoveries.

Language is a system of symbols. Formulas are formed from combining thebasic symbols. Whether a formula is meaningful or meaningless is decided by thelanguage's syntax. Note that in our definition we do not incorporate the idea ofsemantics. For now we start with the most basic requirement and we will discusslater what the role of semantics is in a language.

In analogy, in analysis of nature it was realized that a precise language which

can handle propositions which expresses quantitative relationships -- namely, mathematics. This developed further in the expression, not merely of quantitativerelationships, i.e. that of numbers, but also of structural relationships. Thismeans that certain structures in physics can be reduced into a set of fundamental rules. This structuralism can be also expressed mathematically. Physical systems that exhibit certain properties analogous to line segments can be modelled asline segments via vector spaces of linear algebra []. Some physical systems that exhibit characteristic symmetry is modelled with structures from group theory[]. Mathematics not only allows the scientist to express his ideas in a preciseand unambiguous language, it also becomes a tool for discovery: complex numbersin the work of Penrose and others have been used to study properties of spacetime [Needham]. In philosophy as in physics we expect that a specialized language will produce similar results.

Naive use of human knowledge immediately results to gross errors. Wordsare usually ill-defined. This is apparent in the exercise of trying to define even the most familiar word such as "sympathy" or "justice". Thus a philosophicallanguage must develop a set of symbols and terms that can be to a certain leveldefinite to a desired precision. There are dangers associated with the definition of a word. A too narrowly defined word may be unintelligible or at worst not capture that which we are trying to talk about or analyze. At the other extreme,a definition which tries to capture every use of a word leads to vagueness and contradiction. A solution is to define every word in a philosophical system and establish its correspondence with the words used in common discourse. To design a

8/10/2019 language and philosophy

2/2

language for logical arguemnt based on clearly intelligible logical principles,we are faced with two potential modes of failure [4]:

(i) the impossiblility to bring human language into full conformity withknown logical principles

(ii) the existence of fundamental aspects of logical analysis to which existing human language is blind.

language as a tool of inquiryknowledge must bormulated in a language

-> the nontrivial point is that the way language is usedis instrumental in the proper formulation of that knowledge.

Furthermore, language facilitates acquisition of new knowledgelimitation of knowledge.

1 http://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/ Richard Field

2 http://www.iep.utm.edu/pragmati/ Douglas McDermid4 Logic and LanguageDaniel J. Castellano(2007-2009) http://www.arcaneknowledge.org/index.html

Primary Readings

The Role of Language in the Philosophy of John DeweyEmmanuel G. MesthenePhilosophy and Phenomenological ResearchVol. 19, No. 4 (Jun., 1959), pp. 511-517Published by: International Phenomenological Society

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2105118