Linguistic Turns in Modern Philosophy (The Evolution of Modern Philosophy) - Softcover

Losonsky, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052165470X ISBN 13: 9780521654708

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2006

Synopsis

This book traces the linguistic turns in the history of modern philosophy and the development of the philosophy of language from Locke to Wittgenstein. It examines the contributions of canonical figures such as Leibniz, Mill, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Austin, Quine, and Davidson, as well as those of Condillac, Humboldt, Chomsky, and Derrida. Michael Losonsky argues that the philosophy of language begins with Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He shows how the history of the philosophy of language in the modern period is marked by a dichotomy between formal and pragmatic perspectives on language and that modern philosophy has not been able to integrate these two aspects of human language. Language as a human activity and language as a syntactic and semantic system remain distinct and competing focal points, although the interplay between these points of view has driven the development of the philosophy of language.

About this title

Review

Losonky's timely book is clearly written, engaging and astute. it is well worth careful study and will no doubt provide the emerging field of the history of the philosophy of language with a styrong base for years to come.' Benjamin Hill, British Journal for the History of Philosophy

Book Description

This book traces the linguistic turns in the history of modern philosophy and the development of the philosophy of language. Michael Losonsky shows how the history of the philosophy of language in the modern period is marked by an as yet unintegrated dichotomy between formal and pragmatic perspectives on language.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 052165470X
• ISBN 13: 9780521654708
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 294