Abstract
In a paper, published in Philosophy in 1947, A. H. Basson and D. J. O’Connor ask whether the structure of a language determines partly or wholly the nature and direction of philosophical thought in that language. While suggesting a number of possible paths for an investigation to take, they limit themselves to canvassing professional philologists, competent in non-Indo-European languages, concerning the ability of those languages to handle the verb ‘to be’, logical quantifiers and logical relations. As a result of their survey, they conclude that ‘although it may be true to say that philosophical problems are connected with linguistic inadequacies, it is very misleading to say that they result from such inadequacies.’
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Notes
T. Mann, Der Tod in Venedig (Berlin: Fischer Bucherei, 1954), p. 37.
See P. Heath and J. Lachs (trs and eds), Science of Knowledge [Wissenschaftslehre] (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1970), p. 99.
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© 1991 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Burbidge, J. (1991). Language and Philosophy: Some Suggestions for Further Reflection. In: Mahalingam, I., Carr, B. (eds) Logical Foundations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21232-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21232-3_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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