Philosophy of Language Books

New and Published Books

1. Metaphysics and the Representational Fallacy

   By Heather Dyke

   Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy

   This book is an investigation into metaphysics: its aims, scope, methodology and practice. Dyke argues that metaphysics should take itself to be concerned with investigating the fundamental nature of reality, and suggests that the ontological significance of language has been grossly exaggerated in...

   Published May 14th 2012 by Routledge
2. The Semantics and Metaphysics of Natural Kinds

   Edited by Helen Beebee, Nigel Sabbarton-Leary

   Series: Routledge Studies in Metaphysics

   Essentialism--roughly, the view that natural kinds have discrete essences, generating truths that are necessary but knowable only a posteriori--is an increasingly popular view in the metaphysics of science. At the same time, philosophers of language have been subjecting Kripke’s views about the...

   Published April 19th 2012 by Routledge
3. Truth and Speech Acts

   Studies in the Philosophy of Language

   Edited by Dirk Greimann, Geo Siegwart

   Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy

   Whereas the relationship between truth and propositional content has already been intensively investigated, there are only very few studies devoted to the task of illuminating the relationship between truth and illocutionary acts. This book fills that gap. This innovative collection addresses such...

   Published April 16th 2012 by Routledge
4. Introduction to Logical Theory

   By P. F. Strawson

   First published in 1952, professor’s Strawson’s highly influential Introduction to Logical Theory provides a detailed examination of the relationship between the behaviour of words in common language and the behaviour of symbols in a logical system. He seeks to explain both the exact nature of the...

   Published March 1st 2012 by Routledge
5. Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language

   Edited by Gillian Russell, Delia Graff Fara

   Series: Routledge Philosophy Companions

   Philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature of meaning, the relationship of language to reality, and the ways in which we use, learn, and understand language. The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language provides a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the...

   Published February 23rd 2012 by Routledge
6. Justice and the Ethics of Legal Interpretation

   By Susanna Hovinheimo

   Justice and the Ethics of Legal Interpretation addresses how it is that legal texts -laws, statutes and regulations – can, and do have meaning. Conventionally, legal decisions are justified with reference to language. But since language is always open to interpretation, and so cannot fully justify...

   Published February 20th 2012 by Routledge
7. The Philosophy of Curiosity

   By Ilhan Inan

   Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy

   In this book, Ilhan Inan questions the classical definition of curiosity as a desire to know. Working in an area where epistemology and philosophy of language overlap, Inan forges a link between our ability to become aware of our ignorance and our linguistic aptitude to construct terms referring to...

   Published December 20th 2011 by Routledge
8. Semantic Externalism

   By Jesper Kallestrup

   Series: New Problems of Philosophy

   Semantic externalism is the view that the meanings of referring terms, and the contents of beliefs that are expressed by those terms, are not fully determined by factors internal to the speaker but are instead bound up with the environment. The debate about semantic externalism is one of the most...

   Published September 1st 2011 by Routledge
9. The Mystical in Wittgenstein's Early Writings

   By James Atkinson

   Series: Studies in Philosophy

   The aim of this book is to consider what reasonably follows from the hypothesis that the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus can be interpreted from a mystical point of view. Atkinson intends to elucidate Wittgenstein’s thoughts on the mystical in his early writings as they pertain to a number of topics...

   Published August 15th 2011 by Routledge
10. Beyond The Tractatus Wars

    The New Wittgenstein Debate

    Edited by Rupert Read, Matthew A. Lavery

    Over fifteen years have passed since Cora Diamond and James Conant turned Wittgenstein scholarship upside down with the program of “resolute” reading, and ten years since this reading was crystallized in the major collection The New Wittgenstein. This approach remains at the center of the debate...

    Published July 10th 2011 by Routledge