This important book proposes a new account of the nature of language, founded upon an original interpretation of Wittgenstein. The authors deny the existence of a direct referential relationship between words and things. Rather, the link between language and world is a two-stage one, in which meaning is used and in which a natural language should be understood as fundamentally a collection of socially devised and maintained practices. Arguing against the philosophical mainstream descending from Frege and Russell to Quine, Davidson, Dummett, McDowell, Evans, Putnam, Kripke and others, the authors demonstrate that discarding the notion of reference does not entail relativism or semantic nihilism. A provocative re-examination of the interrelations of language and social practice, this book will interest not only philosophers of language but also linguists, psycholinguists, students of communication and all those concerned with the nature and acquisition of human linguistic capacities.
By:
Patricia Hanna (University of Utah), Bernard Harrison (University of Utah) Imprint: Cambridge University Pres Country of Publication: United Kingdom Dimensions:
Height: 228mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 28mm
Weight: 576g ISBN:9780521537445 ISBN 10: 0521537444 Pages: 432 Publication Date:20 April 2004 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active