Ontology and the Logistic Analysis of Language

An Enquiry into the Contemporary Views on Universals
1967
ISBN: 978-90-277-0028-5
Verlag: Springer Netherlands

Buch, Englisch, Band 13, 211 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 484 g

Reihe: Synthese Library

It is the aim of the present study to introduce the reader to the ways of thinking of those contemporary philosophers who apply the tools of symbolic logic to classical philosophical problems. Unlike the "conti­ nental" reader for whom this work was originally written, the English­ speaking reader will be more familiar with most of the philosophers dis­ cussed in this book, and he will in general not be tempted to dismiss them indiscriminately as "positivists" and "nominalists". But the English version of this study may help to redress the balance in another respect. In view of the present emphasis on ordinary language and the wide­ spread tendency to leave the mathematical logicians alone with their technicalities, it seems not without merit to revive the interest in formal ontology and the construction of formal systems. A closer look at the historical account which will be given here, may convince the reader that there are several points in the historical develop­ ment whose consequences have not yet been fully assessed: I mention, e. g., the shift from the traditional three-level semantics of sense and deno­ tation to the contemporary two-level semantics of representation; the relation of extensional structure and intensional content in the extensional systems of Wittgenstein and Carnap; the confusing changes in labelling the different kinds of analytic and apriori true sentences; etc. Among the philosophically interesting tools of symbolic logic Lesniewski's calculus of names deserves special attention.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Küng, Guido

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophische Logik, Argumentationstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

0. Introduction.- 0.1 The linguistic and logical interests of contemporary philosophy.- 0.2 Natural and logistic languages.- 0.3 The concern of the present study.- 0.4 Plan of the book.- Appendix I/Brief historical survey of logistic philosophy.- Appendix II/The different traditions of contemporary semiotics.- One / The logistic analysis of language and the relation of representation.- 1. A Philosophical Revolution.- 2. From the Theory of Knowledge to the Logical Analysis of Language.- 3. From the Psychological Concept to the Graphical Sign.- 4. The Relation of Representation.- Two / The relation of representation of predicate signs and contemporary views on universals.- 5. Bertrand Russell.- 6. Ludwig Wittgenstein.- 7. Rudolf Carnap.- 8. Stanislaw Le?niewski.- 9. W. V. Quine and N. Goodman.- 10. The Interpretations of Predicate Signs.- 11. Conclusion.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.