Philosophical Approaches to Language and Communication

The two parts to this book are not strictly divided by theme, but it may be said that the first volume focuses largely on fundamental topics in the field, and the second contains more detailed studies of particular issues exercising researchers today. These studies, in contrast to the more theoretical work in the first volume, often employ the experimental approaches which are of increasing importance across the field of philosophy. In this way, the collection as a whole covers not only the broad area of study into language, but also a full range of methodologies by which it may be conducted.

Volume one begins with a consideration of how we come to know languages in Gabe Dupre’s ‘Balancing Evolution and Acquisition in Theoretical Linguistics: Tensions and Prospects.’ In this chapter, Dupre attempts to reconcile the concepts of innate linguistic knowledge with the constraints of evolutionary biology in an account of language acquisition. This involves deriving the complexity of linguistic competence from an underlying simple system. The chapter closes with some remarks on the remaining difficulties and prospects for such an explanatory strategy. This is followed by ‘What Are Single Languages and What Kind of Relations Hold Between Them?’ by Katja Stepec. This chapter looks at how we can account for single languages and whether relations between languages should be considered internal or external. The author combines philosophy of language with the metaphysics of relations in taking a pragmatist approach to show the possibility of such external relations. The third chapter, ‘Language, Languages, and Reality. A Brief Overview on Linguistic Ontology’ by Filippo Batisti discusses five interrelated ideas about the ontology of language and possible consequences of perceiving languages as objects. These include the notions that language exists as a bio-mental feature of humans, that the perception of languages as discrete autonomous systems is a superfluous fiction, and that minority languages should be preserved in order to maintain the bond between peoples and their culture.

Volume two covers a similarly wide range of topics, looking in detail at a number of phenomena of particular interest to contemporary scholars. These include the nature of propositions, issues arising from disagreement and subjectivity, and the relationship between thought and language. Other chapters take up themes in the philosophy of communication, considering implicature and inference, as well as contextualism and communicative success. A common thread is the importance of the experimental turn in contemporary philosophy, with empiricist methodology both employed and discussed. The volume ends with chapters focussed on the justification of beliefs, and the normativity of meaning and communication.

All of the chapters in these volumes were subjected to double-blind peer review, in most cases by one of the other authors and one external reviewer. As always, great thanks are due to those who agree to take on the task of reviewing: their work provides invaluable suggestions and forces us all to think harder about that which we may have got wrong or expressed poorly. We extend our thanks also to Przemek Ostalski and Chris Genovesi for their help with copy-editing. Finally, our gratitude is due to all of those who have questioned, commented, criticised, and encouraged at conferences, seminars, and workshops as we have endeavoured to maintain a spirit of community through a period of global anxiety and restrictions on movement. We look forward to more face-to-face meetings, more mutual inspiration and support, and more ideas and volumes in which to express them in the years to come.