On Language: Analytic, Continental, and Historical Contributions

Language was at the heart of philosophical inquiry for Plato and Aristotle, and in contemporary discussion it is no less central. In addition to the history of philosophy's extensive investigations of language, analytic and continental philosophy too have focused intensively on the matter. But since most inquiries into language remain enclosed in their own methodology, terminology, and tradition, the multiplicity of approaches is often accompanied by their mutual isolation. This book shows that these traditions can, however, speak meaningfully to each other on language: rather than preventing dialogue, their differences provide opportunities for fruitful inquiry. The essays in this volume each treat a central topic in the contemporary study of language. Part One addresses how expression determines thought according to Humboldt, the use of paraphrase in Quine's semantic ascent, and the non-ambiguity of the Frege-Russell senses of is. Part Two includes treatments of the possibility and impossibility of promising in Nietzsche, and Derrida's re-working of Saussure's distinction between language and world. Topics in Part Three include the origin and end of language for Heidegger and Foucault, and the mutual sharpening of logic and ordinary speech in Anselm. This book fills a gap in current scholarship by bringing together nine essays that, through rejecting the debilitating yet often unquestioned divisions between disciplines, are able to illuminate the fundamental nature of language. 'In each part of this thought-provoking volume on the nature of language, there are essays that demonstrate the immense intellectual potential of writing that refuses to see any decisive distinction between the present of philosophy and its history, or between the ways in which Kant s work has been inherited in Anglo-American and Franco-German traditions.' Stephen Mulhall, New College, Oxford University, author of Wittgenstein's Private Language 'With its robust range of complementary topics, each subjected to penetrating examination, this collection of essays makes a welcome contribution to the philosophy of language, past and present.' Daniel Dahlstrom, Boston University, author of Heidegger s Concept of Truth 'The contributions to this impressive volume ignore traditional divides between analytic and continental, historical and systematic philosophy. This enables the authors to put a number of key issues in the philosophy of language into a striking new light.... Fully accessible to the advanced undergraduate in philosophy, the book also contains many provocative ideas for the specialist.' Martin Kusch, University of Cambridge, author of Language as Calculus vs. Language as Universal Medium