Rules and dispositions in language use / Florian Demont-Biaggi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Demont-Biaggi, Florian.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and languages--Usage.

Language and languages.

Language and languages--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

ix, 251 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Summary:

Human language is not arbitrary. But how is its use constrained? Are there rules or general human dispositions that govern it? Rules and Dispositions in Language Use explains how correct language use is indeed governed by both rules and general human dispositions. It does so by bringing together themes from Ludwig Wittgenstein and Noam Chomsky, which for many years have been thought to be incompatible. Opening with a fresh discussion of Saul Kripke's work on rule-following and meaning, the question of what objectively correct language use could amount to is raised and answered. In its conclusion, the importance of human biological endowment for language use is discussed and compared with Wittgensteinian views on how rules govern language use. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Language Use and Rule-Following

1 Kripke's Wittgenstein 5

1.1 The sceptical scenario 7

1.2 The sceptical solution 26

1.3 Objectivity 35

2 The Rule-Following Debate 40

2.1 Wittgenstenvian views 41

2.2 Varieties of realism 59

Part II The Objective Grounds of Language Use

3 Objective Grounds 77

4 Dummett on Realism and Antirealism 87

4.1 Language, truth and meaning 88

4.2 The truth-conditional conception of meaning and understanding 91

4.3 Dummettian verificationism: intuitionism besieges theories or meaning 98

4.4 Falsificationism as an alternative? 103

4.5 Meaning, realism and antirealism 109

4.6 Miller on truth-conditions and reality 113

4.7 Basic statements 121

5 Basic Statements and Epistemic Rules 126

5.1 Analyticity returns 126

5.2 Objections and extensions 131

5.3 The problem: transmitting justification in deductive reasoning 134

5.4 Blind reasoning: inferences built into concepts? 141

5.5 Entitlement by proof, truth and common ground 145

5.6 And now? 148

Part III Linguistic Powers and Their Proper Study

6 Linguistic Powers 153

6.1 Knowledge of language 154

6.2 From knowledge to competence 161

6.3 The Chomskian perspective 165

6.4 Baker and Hacker on Chomsky 172

6.5 Methodological naturalism and internalism 180

6.6 Chomsky's methodological naturalism 181

6.7 Chomsky and the methodological fallacy 188

7 Logic and Language 198

7.1 Medieval logicians on logical form and grammatical form 201

7.2 Frege's innovations and the separation of logical form from grammatical form 203

7.3 How Russellian descriptions suggest a separation of logical form from grammatical form 209

7.4 An alternative notation 211

7.5 The alleged affinity between grammar and logic 214

7.6 Pietroski's Davidsonian suggestion 219

7.7 A Wittgensteinian perspective 224.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1137358599

9781137358592

OCLC:

860943874