Language Turned on Itself: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Metalinguistic Discourse - Hardcover

Cappelen, Herman; Lepore, Ernest

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199231192 ISBN 13: 9780199231195

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

Language Turned on Itself examines what happens when language becomes self-reflexive; when language is used to talk about language. Those who think, talk, and write about language are habitual users of various metalinguistic devices, but reliance on these devices begins early: kids are told, 'That's called a "rabbit"'. It's not implausible that a primitive capacity for the meta-linguistic kicks in at the beginning stages of language acquisition. But no matter when or how frequently these devices are invoked, one thing is clear: they present theorists of language with a complex data pattern. Herman Cappelen and Ernest Lepore show that the study of these devices and patterns not only represents an interesting and neglected project in the philosophy of language, but also carries important consequences for other parts of philosophy.

Part I is devoted to presenting data about various aspects of our metalinguistic practices. In Part II, the authors examine and reject the four leading metalinguistic theories, and offer a new account of our use of quotation in a variety of different contexts. But the primary goal of this book is not to promote one theory over another. Rather, it is to present a deeply puzzling set of problems and explain their significance

About this title

About the Author

Herman Cappelen is Arché Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews.

Ernie Lepore is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199231192
• ISBN 13: 9780199231195
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 182