Ordinary Language Gilbert Ryle, Philosophical Review, LXII, 1953 [reproduced by Hist-Analytic.org] Ryle discusses appeals to 'ordinary language' as a philosophical method
How Many Wittgensteins? Who Wrote the Philosophical Investigations: Nine Answers in Search of a Philosopher David G. Stern, The Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen, 2005 A summary of David Fogelin's distinction between 'Pyrrhonian' and 'non-Pyrrhonian' readings of the Philosophical Investigations. The former reading construes Wittgenstein as seeking to end philosophy, while on the latter reading, he aims to improve it
The Uncanniness of the Ordinary Stanley Cavell, The Tanner Lecture on Human Values, Stanford University, 3 & 8 April 1986 Cavell discusses the tension between ordinary language and philosophical enquiry
The Metaphysics of Ordinary Experience Stanley Rosen, Harvard Review of Philosophy, V, Spring 1995 Rosen claims a fundamental role for ordinary experience and discourse in philosophy, by discussing the difference between philosophy and art
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"When philosophers use a word...and try to grasp the essence of the thing, one must always ask oneself: is the word ever actually used in this way in the language in which it is at home?" Ludwig Wittgenstein
The Ordinary Language Argument and Norms of Meaning Sally Parker-Ryan, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Graduate Student Philosophy Conference 2005-2006, City University of New York This paper attempts to outline an 'Ordinary Language Argument' which distills some key points of OLP, and contends that OLP has some advantage over the truth-conditional theory of meaning
Wittgenstein and Contextualism Jason Bridges, University of Chicago, 2005 Bridges argues against a contextualist view of meaning espoused by Hilary Putnam and Charles Travis, and critiques a pro-contextualist reading of the Philosophical Investigations which is ascribed to Travis
Rule-Following, Compositionality and the Normativity of Meaning Peter Pagin, Stockholm University, 2002 An argument that the rule-following paradigm of meaning critiqued in the Philosophical Investigations is irrelevant to the principle of compositionality
This site aims to facilitate research and discussion on the principles, objectives, scope and issues of ordinary language philosophy (OLP). The inclusion of any link does not indicate a commitment on our part to the views expressed.
Special Section
Philosophy of Mind
Re-introducing The Concept of Mind Daniel C. Dennett, The Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy, 7, 2002 Dennett argues for the continued relevance of Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of Mind
What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then Scott Soames, University of Southern California, [date unknown] Soames replies to critics of his book The Age of Meaning, beginning with a defence of his contention that "the ordinary language school is no more - which does not mean that its classics are consigned to oblivion."
Interview with Prof. John R. Searle Ralf Stoecker, ZiF: Mitteilungen, 1, 2000 Excerpt: "I never took very seriously either the exaggerated claims that were sometimes made about the value of the methods of analyzing expressions in ordinary language, nor did I take seriously the unreasonable attacks on these methods in philosophy. However, it does seem to me that we benefited enormously from the obsession with rigor and clarity that characterized Oxford at the time."
Conformism in Analytic Philosophy Aaron Preston, a longer version of an article in The Monist, 88(2), 2005 This provocative paper argues that "(1) analytical philosophy is best regarded [as] a social collectivity unified by interactional memes, and that (2) its meteoric rise to power and prominence in academic philosophy was due not to the cogency of the philosophical views traditionally associated with it, but to 'norm conformism' - a mode of meme propagation..."
Statement of Purpose
Wittgenstein on Names David B. Boersema, Essays in Philosophy, 1(2), 2000 An article that discusses the later Wittgenstein's views on proper names, with reference to Searle and Kripke
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About the Editor
Trying to Keep Philosophy Honest Lars Hertzberg, paper presented at the conference 'LudwigWittgenstein Research Revisited', Bergen, 12-15 Dec 2001 Hertzberg suggests that Wittgenstein's writings have come to be increasingly marginalized in analytic philosophy, and argues that they still have a distinctive and worthwhile contribution to make to the analytic tradition
Analytic Philosophy: Beyond the Linguistic Turn and Back Again P. M. S. Hacker, St John's College, Oxford, 2005 Excerpts: "[A] central method of philosophy after the linguistic turn was to examine meticulously the uses of words - a method that is discarded - as it is indeed discarded by contemporary revisionists, only at a very high cost." [p.14] "So: back to the linguistic turn. The aim of philosophy is the clarification of the forms of sense that, in one way or another, are conceptually puzzling - for they are legion. The charge of philosophy - a Sisyphean labour to be sure - is the extirpation of nonsense." [p.19]
Freedom and Resentment P. F. Strawson, Proceedings of the British Academy, 47, 1962 [reproduced by the Determinism and Freedom Philosophy Website] Strawson's famous essay on determinism and free will, with reference to ordinary attitudes of resentment and approval
"The Thing About Progress...": A Critique of Wittgenstein's Philosophy Colin Radford, formerly Professor of Philosophy, University of Kent, 2001 At the time of his death in 2001, Prof Radford was writing a book on Wittgenstein's philosophy. The book was not completed or revised and only a draft exists. Excerpt: "This book is a critical account of some of the central features of Wittgenstein's philosophy...His account is penetrating and illuminating about some aspects of philosophy, but as a comprehensive account - which, I argue, he did attempt - it is not only incomplete but distorting, reductive and diminishing." (Preface)
Did Wittgenstein Ever Take the Linguistic Turn? Heinrich Watzka SJ, Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 58, 2002 Watzka attempts to draw a distinction between the philosophical program known as the 'linguistic turn' and the objectives of the Philosophical Investigations
Nagelian Arguments Against Egoism Stuart Rachels, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 80(2), 2002 Rachels examines several arguments against ethical egoism which receive expression in Nagel's work, and contends that the Argument from Introspection is the only one which provides some grounds for rejecting Egoism
Passing by the Naturalistic Turn: On Quine's Cul-de-Sac P. M. S. Hacker, St John's College, Oxford, [date unknown] A critique of Quine's 'naturalistic turn', the attempt to move "from the a priori methods of traditional philosophy, to a conception of philosophy as continuous with natural science". Hacker argues that the naturalistic turn is a dead end; "a turn that is to be passed by if we are to keep to the high road of good sense"
Philosophy of Language in Ethics R. M. Hare, Sorting Out Ethics, Clarendon Press, 1997 The first chapter of Hare's classic book Sorting Out Ethics. In this chapter, Hare draws on OLP and Austin's speech-act theory to introduce the argument that 'ought'-sentences are prescriptive in their typical uses
Forums
Saul Kripke - Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language Unofficial Homepage John Humphrey, Minnesota State University, 2005 A site devoted to Saul Kripke's highly controversial interpretation of the PhilosophicalInvestigations as a skeptical argument. Major authorities on the Investigations agree that Wittgenstein did not hold the view that Kripke ascribes to him, but 'Kripkenstein' (as Kripke's version of Wittgenstein came to be called) has attracted philosophical interest in his own right
The Problem of Consciousness John R. Searle, University of California, Berkeley, [date unknown] Abstract: "This paper attempts to answer four questions, (1) What is consciousness? (2) What is the relation of consciousness to the brain? (3) What are some of the features that an empirical theory of consciousness should try and explain? (4) What are some common mistakes to avoid?"
Philosophy as Naive Anthropology: Comment on Bennett and Hacker Daniel Dennett, APA Eastern Division Meeting, Dec 2005 Comments on Max Bennett and Peter Hacker's Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience (which presents a Wittgensteinean non-Cartesian anti-reductionist framework for neuroscience). The link below for Bennett and Hacker's reply
Reply to Professor Dennett and Professor Searle Max Bennett and Peter Hacker, APA Eastern Division Meeting, Dec 2005 Reply from the authors of Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience (which presents a Wittgensteinean non-Cartesian anti-reductionist framework for neuroscience) to comments by Dennett (above) and Searle. An audio .wav recording (42mb) of the entire 3-hour discussion may be downloaded here
Lecture on Ethics Ludwig Wittgenstein, University of Cambridge, 1929 Wittgenstein's famous lecture, later published in the Philosophical Review, 74, 1965
An Orrery of Intentionality P. M. S. Hacker, Language and Communication, 21, 2001 An attempt to survey the logico-grammatical features of intentional verbs, with reference to a range of philosophical problems
Wittgenstein on Scepticism and Certainty A. C. Grayling, Essays on Wittgenstein, ed. H. Glock, 2001 A commentary on Wittgenstein's notes on skepticism, doubt and knowledge that were posthumously published as On Certainty
What is Wittgenstein's Point in the Rule-Following Discussion? Crispin Wright, paper for the 'Language and Mind' seminar, NYU, 9 April, 2002 A discussion of competing interpretations (by Kripke, McDowell and McGinn) of Wittgenstein's remarks on rule-following in (mainly 185-252 of) the Philosophical Investigations
Intentional Action and Side Effects in Ordinary Language Joshua Knobe, Analysis, 63, 2003 Interesting article that uses empirical research on language-use to bring a new perspective to a philosophical problem. The problem is whether the side-effects of an intentional action are also intentional (if the actor knew beforehand that the side-effects would result). Knobe found that people were much more willing to say that a side-effect was intentional when they regard the side-effect as bad than when they regard it as good. Articles by the author and others interpreting this finding are on his website.
Special Features
Virtue Ethics and Situationism In ordinary discourse, we often refer to character traits such as honesty, courage or kindness as if they were stable dispositions. Gilbert Harman argues that the evidence from social psychology suggests the opposite, that human behaviour is highly situational. In the series of papers below, Harman discusses the implications of this finding for virtue ethics, followed by various responses from a virtue ethics perspective, and a radio discussion by George Graham and Hugh LaFollette
John Doris's Lack of Character(mp3) 'Ideas and Issues', WETS-FM, 19 May 2003 A radio discussion in which George Graham and Hugh LaFollette discuss Doris's book, which takes a similar position to Harman's.
Semiotics for Beginners Daniel Chandler, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1995 An award-winning online book on the background and key concepts of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols as part of social life. A revised print version is available as Semiotics:The Basics (London, Routledge: 2001)
ebook
Wittgenstein and the Autonomy of Humanistic Understanding P. M. S. Hacker, in R. Allen and M. Turvey (eds.), Wittgenstein: Theory and the Arts (London, Routledge: 2001) Hacker defends Wittgenstein against the charge of being "the paradigmatically destructive philosopher", and outlines Wittgenstein's contribution as a defender of the distinctive methodology of humanistic studies (the study of man as a cultural, social and historical being) "against the illegitimate encroachment of the natural sciences" ('scientism')
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Wittgenstein: A Philosophy of Linguistics (RealAudio) BBC Radio 4, 4 Dec 2003 A wide-ranging radio discussion on Wittgenstein in the series 'In Our Time', presented by Melvyn Bragg, with contributors Ray Monk, Barry Smith and Mary McGinn
Deconstruction (RealAudio) WETS-FM, 7 May 2000 For the series 'Ideas and Issues', Hugh LaFollette interviews Stanley Fish, who presents a lucid introduction to Deconstruction. Quote: "I don't really think that it has much import...What I would like everybody to do, both on the pro and con side in respect to Deconstruction is, as they say in New York, forget about it." Rethinking 25 Centuries of Philosophy (RealAudio) WBUR Boston and NPR, 1 Nov 2000 George Lakoff argues that traditional philosophy tends to mistake metaphors for literal descriptions, because it underestimates the pervasiveness and embeddedness of metaphor not only in our language, but also in our thought. Hosted by Christopher Lydon
John Doris's Lack of Character(mp3) WETS-FM, 19 May 2003 A radio discussion in the series 'Ideas and Issues' in which George Graham critically discusses Doris's book, which takes the position that human behaviour is highly situational and that stable character traits are the exception rather than the rule. The host is Hugh LaFollette
OLP Radio
From the PBS website: "Based on a popular Harvard course taught by Dr. Armand Nicholi, author of The Question of God, the series illustrates the lives and insights of Sigmund Freud, a life-long critic of religious belief, and C.S. Lewis, a celebrated Oxford don, literary critic, and perhaps this century's most influential and popular proponent of faith based on reason."
We are happy to announce that this website has been selected by the
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Rethinking Ryle Julia Tanney, translated into French by P. Ambroise and published as 'Une Cartographie Des Concepts Mentaux', a critical introduction to (the republication of) Gilbert Ryle's La Notion D'esprit (The Concept of Mind), 2005, Payot, Paris, pp. 7-70 A re-evaluation of Ryle's philosophy of mind with reference to contemporary philosophy, and a substantial exposition on The Concept of Mind
The Philosophy of Gilbert Ryle Special issue of the Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy, 7, 2002 An issue devoted to Gilbert Ryle, with articles by Anthony Chemero, Daniel Dennett, Istvan Berkeley, Hartley Slater, Rowland Stout and Fred Ablondi
Wittgenstein and Ordinary Language Special issue of the journal Essays in Philosophy, 1(2) With articles on Wittgenstein by John Powell, David B. Boersema, Barry Stocker, Kathy Emmett Bohstedt, Jeff Johnson, Fred Mosedale and Rupert Read
Wittgenstein Links T. P. Uschanov, University of Helsinki A sizable list of links to Wittgenstein sites, papers, scholars and other resources
