Language and Meaning in the Age of Modernism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McElvenny
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Personal Connection ◽  
International Language ◽  
Academic Philosophy ◽  
Significant Figures ◽  
Basic English ◽  
And Linguistics

This book is a historical study of influential currents in the philosophy of language and linguistics of the first half of the twentieth century, explored from the perspective of the English scholar C. K. Ogden (1889–1957). Although no ‘Great Man’ in his own right, Ogden had a personal connection, reflected in his work, to several of the most significant figures of the age. The background to the ideas espoused in Ogden’s book The Meaning of Meaning, co-authored with I.A. Richards (1893–1979), is examined in detail, along with the application of these ideas in his international language project Basic English. A richly interlaced network of connections is revealed between early analytic philosophy, semiotics and linguistics, all inevitably shaped by the contemporary cultural and political environment. In particular, significant interaction is shown between Ogden’s ideas, the varying versions of ‘logical atomism’ of Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and Ludwig Wittgensten (1889–1951), Victoria Lady Welby’s (1837–1912) ‘significs’, and the philosophy and political activism of Otto Neurath (1882–1945) and Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) of the Vienna Circle. Amid these interactions emerges a previously little known mutual exchange between the academic philosophy and linguistics of the period and the practically oriented efforts of the international language movement.

Ogden and the Vienna Circle

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McElvenny
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
World War ◽  
Rudolf Carnap ◽  
International Language ◽  
Basic English ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Intellectual Environment

This chapter investigates the contact and collaboration between C. K. Ogden and the Vienna Circle philosophers Otto Neurath and Rudolf Carnap, which was chiefly driven by Ogden and centred around his project Basic English. The aspects of philosophy of language and social engagement that united Ogden with Neurath and Carnap are first examined in detail. Attention then turns to Neurath’s picture statistics, which through collaboration with Ogden evolved into Isotype, a contribution to the international language movement aligned with Basic. Finally, the relationship between Ogden, Carnap and Neurath as revealed in their correspondence is discussed, along with their shared fate in the post-World War II intellectual environment.

Basic English

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McElvenny
Keyword(s):  
George Orwell ◽  
Jeremy Bentham ◽  
International Language ◽  
Basic English

This chapter explores C. K. Ogden’s project Basic English against the background of the contemporary international language movement. An exposition of the international language movement, its political and philosophical commitments, is followed by an examination of the features of Ogden’s Basic and the rhetoric surrounding it. The connections between the theories developed in The Meaning of Meaning and Basic English are looked at in detail. The chapter closes with a discussion of the influence of Jeremy Bentham and his Panopticon on Basic, and of the reaction of George Orwell to the project, as revealed in his published writings and correspondence with Ogden, and in Newspeak, his parody of constructed languages.

Bertrand Russell. My mental development. A reprint of IX 82(1). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 1–20; also third edition, Tudor Publishing Company, New York 1951, pp. 1-20; also paper-bound reprint of the third edition, Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, Evanston, and London, 1963, Vol. I, pp. 1-20. - Hans Reichenbach. Bertrand Russell's logic. A reprint of IX 76(2). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 21–54; also ibid. 1951, pp. 21-54; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 21-54. - Morris Weitz. Analysis and the unity of Russell's philosophy. A reprint of IX 77(1). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 55–121; also ibid. 1951, pp. 55-121; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 55-121. - Kurt Göde. Russell's mathematical logic. A reprint of XI 75. The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 123–153; also ibid. 1951, pp. 123-153; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 123-153. - James Feibleman. A reply to Bertrand Russell's introduction to the second edition of The principles of mathematics. A reprint of IX 77(2). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 155–174; also ibid. 1951, pp. 155-174; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 155-174. - G.E. Moore. Russell's “theory of descriptions.” A reprint of IX 78(1). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 175–225; also ibid. 1951, pp. 175-225; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 175-225. - Max Black. Russell's philosophy of language. A reprint of IX 78(2). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 227–255; also ibid. 1951, pp. 227-255; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 227-255. - Philip P. Wiener. Method in Russell's work on Leibniz. A reprint of IX 82(2). The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 257–276; also ibid. 1951, pp. 257-276; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 257-276. - Ernest Nagel. Russell's philosophy of science. A reprint of IX 79. The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 317–349; also ibid. 1951, pp. 317-349; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 317-349. - Andrew Paul Ushenko. Russell's critique of empiricism. A reprint of IX 80. The philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, second edition, The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, 1946, pp. 385–417; also ibid. 1951, pp. 385-417; also ibid. 1963, Vol. I, pp. 385-417.

1969 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-496
Author(s):  
Ann S. Ferebee
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Mathematical Logic ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Mental Development ◽  
Publishing Company ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Hans Reichenbach ◽  
The Third ◽  
Theory Of Descriptions

The Language of Fiction

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Fictional Characters ◽  
New Research ◽  
Fictional Names ◽  
Philosophy Of Fiction ◽  
And Linguistics ◽  
Literary Techniques ◽  
Fictional Story ◽  
Fictional Truth

The Language of Fiction brings together new research on fiction from philosophy and linguistics. Fiction is a topic that has long been studied in philosophy. Yet recently there has been a surge of work on fictional discourse in the intersection between linguistics and philosophy of language. There has been a growing interest in examining long-standing issues concerning fiction from a perspective informed both by philosophy and linguistic theory. The Language of Fiction contains fourteen essays by leading scholars in both fields, as well as a substantial Introduction by the editors. The collection is organized in three parts, each with their own introduction. Part I, “Truth, reference, and imagination”, offers new, interdisciplinary perspectives on some of the central themes from the philosophy of fiction: What is fictional truth? How do fictional names refer? What kind of speech act is involved in telling a fictional story? What is the relation between fiction and imagination? Part II, “Storytelling”, deals with themes originating from the study of narrative: How do we infer a coherent story from a sequence of event descriptions? And how do we interpret the words of impersonal or unreliable narrators? Part III, “Perspective shift”, zooms in on an alleged key characteristic of fictional narratives, viz. the way we get access to the fictional characters’ inner lives, through a variety of literary techniques for representing what they say, think, or see.

Language, Meaning, and Information

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Soames
Keyword(s):  
Modal Logic ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Philosophy Of Mathematics ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Gottlob Frege ◽  
Possible Worlds Semantics ◽  
Language Meaning

This chapter is a case study of the process by which the attempt to solve philosophical problems sometimes leads to the birth of new domains of scientific inquiry. It traces how advances in logic and the philosophy of mathematics, starting with Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell, provided the foundations for what became a rigorous and scientific study of language, meaning, and information. After sketching the early stages of the story, it explains the importance of modal logic and “possible worlds semantics” in providing the foundation for the last half century of work in linguistic semantics and the philosophy of language. It argues that this foundation is insufficient to support the most urgently needed further advances. It proposes a new conception of truth-evaluable information as inherently representational cognitive acts of certain kinds. The chapter concludes by explaining how this conception of propositions can be used to illuminate the notion of truth; vindicate the connection between truth and meaning; and fulfill a central, but so far unkept, promise of possible worlds semantics.

The curse of the perceptual: a case from kinaesthesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Kolaiti
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
And Linguistics

AbstractDebate in philosophy of language and linguistics has focused on conceptual representations/propositional thought; as a result there has been little discussion on the effability of

Paul Grice

Philosophy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Cooperative Principle ◽  
Philosophy Of Perception ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
Logical Paradoxes ◽  
And Linguistics ◽  
Paul Grice ◽  
British Philosopher

Herbert Paul Grice (b. 1913–d. 1988) was a British philosopher and linguist, and one of the pivotal figures in philosophy during the 20th century. He wrote in many areas of philosophy, including the metaphysics of personal identity, logical paradoxes, the analytic/synthetic distinction, the philosophy of perception, philosophical psychology, and ethics. He also wrote on historical figures such as Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, and Kant. But his most significant contributions came in philosophy of language and mind, on meaning, intention, presupposition, conversation, and the theory of communication. Grice argued for an intention-based theory of meaning, and he was the first to illustrate the distinction between what came to be called semantic and pragmatic meaning, that is, between what a speaker’s utterance (or its utterance “type”) means in the abstract, and what else a speaker can mean by uttering it in a particular context. Grice highlighted this by an appeal to his framework of the Cooperative Principle and its Conversational Maxims, which are plausibly assumed by conversational participants and provide mechanisms for the ways in which speakers can “conversationally implicate” something beyond the literal meaning of what they say, and for how hearers can recover those “implicatures.’” Grice’s enduring influence on these topics helped found the burgeoning discipline in philosophy of language and linguistics now known as “pragmatics” (compare the Oxford Bibliographies in Philosophy article on “Pragmatics”).

Escape from Boredom: Edification According to Rorty

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Levi
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Salient Feature ◽  
Richard Rorty ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Professional Philosopher ◽  
The Future ◽  
Academic Philosophy

Richard Rorty sings in the antifoundationalist chorus. His song equates the rise of foundationalist epistemology with the professionalization of philosophy. The discordant notes he finds in the foundationalist score become, as a consequence, subversive of philosophy as an autonomous discipline.Nonetheless, the most salient feature of Rorty's recent book, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, is that it is by a professional philosopher, for professional philosophers and about the future of philosophy as a profession. The early chapters of the book are polished pieces of professional philosophical prose addressed to issues which have provoked interest in recent years among members of academic philosophy departments. They represent efforts to undermine foundationalist epistemology even in some of its currently fashionable guises as philosophy of language.

Colonization and the Making of Mankind

1961 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Lüthy
Keyword(s):  
Historical Study ◽  
Inverse Relation ◽  
National State ◽  
Power Of Words ◽  
Basic English ◽  
Simultaneous Translation

A meeting of historians on “Colonialism and Colonization” certainly raises a terminological problem. Colonization is a great and old subject of historical study. The word “colonialism,” on the contrary, seems to me to have come to us from the international rostrums where diplomats and propagandists wage the psychological wars of today; and to my taste it has that Basic English quality of an international vocabulary ready-made for simultaneous translation, where the suggestive power of words is in inverse relation to their accuracy. In its current use it seems to be a synonym of imperialism or, more generally, of domination of one country by another, or by the rulers of another country. But imperialism, at least, says what it means: the policy of building and holding together an empire, a unit of domination which transcends the national state. Foreign domination is a self-defining expression apt to describe all degrees of dependency, from straight political and military to economic or even cultural ones. What, then, is the use of forging yet another term?

scholarly journals ATSAR AL QURAN AL KARIM FI AL LUGHAH AL ARABIYYAH

ALSINATUNA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Uril Bahrudin
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
International Language ◽  
Mental Problems ◽  
Language Study

The study about Qur’an and its influence on Arabic language shows the importance of language study. The aim of this research is to find out the historical study of the influence of Qur’an on Arabic language which focuses on the basics, function, and characteristics of language. The article result shows that (1) the basics of language is speaking which express or understand social, cultural, psychological and mental problems. (2) Arabic language has its own characteristics such as the uniqueness in its sound, isytiqoq, I’rab, synonym, and simplicity. (3) Qur’an makes Arabic language well-preserved, stronger, and stable. In addition, it also makes Arabic language become international language and academic language which consequently brings out Arabic education program and Arabic language development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document