Language and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language

Language and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language
ISBN-10
0585317623
ISBN-13
9780585317625
Series
Language and Reality
Category
Philosophy
Pages
342
Language
English
Published
1999
Publisher
MIT Press (MA)
Authors
Michael Devitt, Kim Sterelny

Description

What is language? How does it relate to the world? How does it relate to the mind? Should our view of language influence our view of the world? These are among the central issues covered in this spirited and unusually clear introduction to the philosophy of language. Making no pretense of neutrality, Michael Devitt and Kim Sterelny take a definite theoretical stance. Central to that stance is naturalism -- that is, they treat a philosophical theory of language as an empirical theory like any other and see people as nothing but complex parts of the physical world. This leads them, controversially, to a deflationary view of the significance of the study of language: they dismiss the idea that the philosophy language should be preeminent in philosophy.

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