for philosophical questions concerning the nature, origins, and usage of natural language
3
votes
2answers
75 views
Can the oldest man in the world die?
In the news, I read
"Recently, the oldest man in the world died."
I know the intended meaning of the above sentence, but language wise it might be kind of a stretch.
Is this a sentence where the ...
1
vote
3answers
59 views
Why do fictional characters not exemplify properties?
I recently read about encoding and exemplifying.
From what I understand - Detective Smith (a real person) exemplifies detectiveness, but Sherlock Homes does not.
Sherlock Homes isn't real - and ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
are fundamental questions like “cogito ergo sum” even provable?
The rationalist descartian position states that everything can be doubted except doubt itself. With the phrase "cogito ergo sum" it claims to establish the existence of one ones existence, if i did ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
What is the essential something that Heidegger suggests that philosophers can learn from poetry?
In this transcript of a conversation between Simon Critchley & Badiou on Badiou's book Being and Event, Badiou states:
And after that, I have also to understand why there is in modern times a ...
6
votes
1answer
44 views
How is meaning-holism a problem for the analytic-synthetic distinction?
I read Quine's Two Dogmas, and I also read two of Harman's papers:'Doubts about Conceptual Analysis,' and 'Analyticity Regained?' I have a couple of observations: Both Quine and Harman adopt a kind of ...
2
votes
2answers
50 views
What does Putnam mean by “indexicality”?
I just studied Putnams "Meaning and Reference" (http://home.sandiego.edu/~baber/analytic/Putnam1973.pdf)
Then he talks about indexicality . What exactly does it mean when we say that a word, or some ...
2
votes
0answers
48 views
Is the gnome in my garden called Barack Obama a rigid designator?
There is a gnome in garden which I've christened Barack Obama. This is the plaster-of-paris sort not a fictional one. Is there a possible world in which the two swap? What does Kripke say?
Surely ...
5
votes
2answers
165 views
Is “Mickey Mouse” a rigid designator?
According to Kripke, proper names, like Barack Obama, Michael Jackson etc are rigid designators. In all possible worlds, the name refers to the 'object' Barack Obama or Michael Jackson. This is true ...
3
votes
0answers
90 views
Are all languages related? [closed]
This question was prompted by this newspaper article saying:
Languages spoken by billions of people across Europe and Asia are descended from an ancient tongue uttered in southern Europe at the ...
5
votes
1answer
80 views
Is this sentence contingent or necessary true? A priori or a posteriori?
Given the following sentence
"Barack Obama's name is Barack Obama
According to Kripke, can we say that this sentence is necessary true or is it contingent? I'm confused because proper names are ...
1
vote
1answer
101 views
A simple paradox of True or False [duplicate]
In a piece of paper, it was written:
The statement written in the paper is false.
Is that statement actually true or false?
1
vote
2answers
53 views
How does Derrida explain the possibility of meaningful communication and linguistic coordination?
Consider this passage on Derrida and meaning (from here):
The search for an 'essential reality' or 'origin' or 'truth' is futile, because
"...language bears within itself the necessity of its ...
9
votes
4answers
140 views
Does languange somehow filter what we can know?
I've read a proposition somewhere: That our languange acts as a filter, allowing us to know certain things while making it impossible to know the rest(1). It seems that mathematics has some things ...
2
votes
0answers
38 views
How does deconstruction differ from post-structuralism?
Derrida states that his use of the word deconstruction
first took place in a context in which "structuralism was dominant" and its use is related to this context. Derrida states that ...
1
vote
0answers
31 views
What are some good examples of how structuralism is used in the humanities?
I'm aware that Levi-strauss used structuralist ideas in anthropology - are there any simple examples of how he used these ideas. I'm also aware of it being used in literature - how is that done. Are ...
2
votes
3answers
117 views
Book on philosophy of language for beginners
Reading books about philosophy of language I came cross a lot of terminology like "metaphysics", "epistemology", "aesthetics", "logical positivist" etc. As I'm a total beginner in this area, I'm ...
-1
votes
2answers
120 views
what kind of branch of philosophy using symbolic logic as a fundamental tool?
I have read a book about "Philosophy of Language",the discussion of Frege and Russell are excellent,using logic symbol to introduce ideas.However,the rest chapters does not approach in this way,the ...
4
votes
1answer
48 views
Are there any introductory video courses about philosophy of language on the internet?
I want to study the philosophy of language. Are there any video courses about philosophy of language on the internet?
6
votes
1answer
188 views
What did Wittgenstein mean by saying that the belief in the causal nexus is a superstition?
In the Tractatus-Logicus Wittenstein says:
5.1361
The events of the future cannot be inferred from those of the present.
Superstition is the belief in the causal nexus.
I'm not quite ...
-1
votes
2answers
101 views
Can any one experience the World without a language? if yes to what extent, if no, why not?
By listening, speaking, seeing and reflecting on words made by the alphabets of a language - one experiences the World. How far is this correct? Can any one experience the World without a language? if ...
1
vote
2answers
72 views
Is difference between 'free will' and 'imaginary obligation' purely connotational?
Consider the concepts of 'free will' and 'imaginary obligation'. Under certain circumstances they seem hard to differentiate (i.e. somebody 'really wants' to relisten a track of music, or perhaps it ...
5
votes
7answers
340 views
Does Searle's Chinese Room model computers correctly?
Searle invented a thought experiment, the Chinese Room, which he proposes is an argument against Strong AI (that machines think) but not against Weak AI (that machines simulate thinking), he has a man ...
4
votes
2answers
276 views
Language or idea? Which comes first? (language of thought hypothesis)
I'm a physicist, but I do like philosophy, so I was arguing with a friend about what comes first: Ideas or the language/symbolism?
More Precisely:
If we define thinking process as: a kind of ...
3
votes
3answers
244 views
How come that a certain language is more logical as compared to another language?
Is it acceptable to say that a specific language is more logical than another language? To give an example, I always see the argument, that Latin (and also Japanese) is more logical than English.
7
votes
2answers
261 views
Derrida-Searle debate - any information?
I would like to know how Derrida-Searle debate went on (Wikipedia is lacking, and Searle's response is somehow difficult to find.).
Can anyone provide me some summary and some crucial details?
6
votes
2answers
167 views
Is there a philosophical term or theory that defines or describes the idea of 'epiphany'?
I am new to the philosophy stack exchange, so please let me know if I need to clarify this question further. I am curious if there is a distinction made in philosophical fields between a typical ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Gricean logic against Ordinal Language Philosophy
For example, Charles Travis (1996; 1999) has pointed out, a variety of ways that a sentence may be used quite literally, non-metaphorically, seriously and sincerely – and yet still express two ...
5
votes
2answers
134 views
What is the ontological stance of formalists on mathematical objects?
Are modern proponents of formalism associated with an ontoglogical opinion regarding numbers?
If they view mathematics as the process of manipulating string according to agreed upon rules, there ...
3
votes
0answers
105 views
Does Bergson view symbols negatively or only as a secondary source of knowledge?
In the Introduction to Metaphysics, metaphysics is defined as "that science which claims to dispense with symbols." Bergson contends that the human mind operates discursively, or by taking snapshots ...
9
votes
1answer
133 views
How does language alter our experience of the world?
I was thinking — if we didn't have words our experiences would be different somehow. It seems to me that perhaps words are limiting our experiences because as soon as we relate an experience to a word ...
3
votes
0answers
45 views
Parsing the actionable in standpoint theory
A recent Hugo Schwyzer article laid out the following explanation of "Strong Objectivity":
We can never adopt a true “view from nowhere.” We can defy gravity in outer space, but we can never slip ...
1
vote
2answers
116 views
Given Wittgenstein characterisation of language as essentially public, can he characterise what form thinking takes?
According to Wittgenstein, language is an essentially public activity between minds; and language is structured by a grammar so that this communication can indeed occur. I think, the notion of ...
-1
votes
1answer
57 views
Wittgenstein maintains language is public, can this be correct?
I come into the world where other beings are using language. I learn this.
Those beings have come into the world where other beings are using language. They learn it.
Those other beings come into ...
2
votes
2answers
123 views
Does language itself support the extended mind hypothesis?
language, even when taking into Chomskys hypothesis of the biological ground of 'Deep Grammar', is primarily public: The English language is not built into our minds, it is 'out there'. I come into ...
5
votes
4answers
208 views
Is there any connection between Structuralism and Category Theory?
Having only the a very cursory knowledge of Structuralism, there does appear to be some points of coincidence:
Structuralism:
Individual elements of culture must be placed within a ...
0
votes
2answers
120 views
Is there any Philosophical significance to why Plato chose to present his work in the form of a dialogue?
Spinoza presented his work in a proposition/theorem format following Euclid, presumably to varnish his work in the seemingly eternal verities of mathematics.
Is there any significance as to why Plato ...
-1
votes
1answer
69 views
Can one systematically reduce sentence into information packages/towers?
On todays wikipedia front page, in the did you know... section, it says
Did you know...
... that Niels Kaas was the chancellor of Denmark during the late 1500s?
Now I find this to be ...
12
votes
4answers
271 views
Wittgenstein, formal languages, logic
I'm a computer science PhD student which does some work in Knowledge Representation, and I have studied a lot of (mathematical) logic. As far as I remember from my high school philosophy classes, ...
0
votes
1answer
192 views
Post-structuralist view of physics? [closed]
What is the post-structuralist approach to natural sciences, especially physics?
Maybe post stucturalism is a bit too scattered to ask for a specific clear position, but what are the common ideas of ...
0
votes
2answers
91 views
Is implying the same as asserting?
I need to understand if implying something, knowingly or unknowingly, is the same as asserting it.
I also need to understand if it is merely semantics or there is a philosophical rigor to it.
EDIT:
...
7
votes
2answers
262 views
Are normative definitions possible in ordinary language philosophy?
If I recall correctly, analyzing a concept in ordinary-language philosophy involved taking inventory on how the term for the concept is used by the speakers of the language across contexts, thus ...
0
votes
2answers
118 views
Can we adequately explain complex phenomenon through a single number?
Think of the most complex number you can. Say a surd like pi. What does it explain, exactly? How complex is the ratio of the circumfrence to the diameter of a circle?
I think numbers can describe ...
5
votes
1answer
80 views
Canonical Papers on Context
The notions of context and contextual disambiguation are either implicitly or explicitly deployed in order to solve problems of ambiguous reference and meaning in the majority of the theories of ...
1
vote
3answers
138 views
Philosophical works addressing the problem of dilution of meaning
As a software developer, I often face the problem of meaningless terms. It is very common in our industry that a certain term is first coined with a very specific and useful meaning. Then, it becomes ...
10
votes
3answers
294 views
Wittgenstein on Math
I have been reading Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and my question is how does he come to realize that we can't have a perfect language.
For instance I would say math is a perfect ...
9
votes
4answers
442 views
What came first, language or consciousness?
What came first, language or consciousness?
Has any philosopher said that language gives us consciousness by allowing us to communicate with ourselves and therefore giving us choices that we did ...
3
votes
3answers
152 views
Are there token events?
The type/token distinction appears to be generally explained in terms of objects. A given Honda Accord is, e.g., a token of of the type "Honda Accord". However, the literature I have read seems to do ...
9
votes
4answers
377 views
What makes a good question?
Most philosophy begins with a question. I'm wondering why certain questions provoke more profound thoughts than others. What characteristics do good questions share with each other? How can we go ...
5
votes
2answers
572 views
Why did Jacques Derrida call his theory “deconstruction”?
Deconstruction literally should mean "destroying something" or "tearing something apart" or something like that—something that is opposite to "construction". Why he has chosen this term for his ...
9
votes
6answers
542 views
Does claiming something exists imply that the number 1 exists?
The number 1 is used in language when we make claims of existence concerning distinct well-defined objects. It seems then that to say the number 1 does not exist would imply that nothing exists at ...
