Katz J.J. (ed.) The Philosophy of Linguistics

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. — VI, 260 p.In light of the sharp linguistic turn philosophy has taken in this century, this collection provides a much-needed and long-overdue reference for philosophical discussion. The first collection of its kind, it explores questions of the nature and existence of linguistic objects - including sentences and meanings - and considers the concept of truth in linguistics. The status of linguistics and the nature of language now take a central place in discussions of the nature of philosophy; the essays in this volume both inform these discussions and lay the groundwork for further examination.There have been two linguistic turns in twentieth-century philosophy. In the first and most celebrated, language became the central concern of philosophers who broke with nineteenth-century idealistic philosophy. In the second, linguistics became the central concern of philosophers who wished to put their thinking about language on a scientific basis. This book is an attempt to stimulate a third linguistic turn, one in which the foundations of linguistics becomes the central concern of philosophers who have tried to think about language from the perspective of the science of language.This book is a reader in the philosophy of linguistics, which is conceived as a branch of philosophy parallel to the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of logic, and the philosophy of physics. The philosophy of linguistics has a potential importance for twentieth century philosophy that those established branches of philosophical investigation lack. Its potential derives from the fact that it concerns the foundations of the science whose object of study, language, has been central to philosophy in this century.