Overview
It is a near truism of philosophy of language that sentences are prior to words. Sentences, it is said, are what we believe, assert, and argue for; uses of them constitute our evidence in semantics; only they stand in inferential relations, and are true or false. Sentences are, indeed, the only things that fundamentally have meaning.Does this near truism really hold of human languages? Robert Stainton, drawing on a wide body of evidence, argues forcefully that speakers can and do use mere words, not sentences, to communicate complete thoughts. He then considers the implications of this empirical result for language-thought relations, various doctrines of sentence primacy, and the semantics-pragmatics boundary.The book is important both for its philosophical and empirical claims, and for the methodology employed. Stainton illustrates how the methods and detailed results of the various cognitive sciences can bear on central issues in philosophy of language. At the same time, he applies philosophical distinctions with subtlety and care, to show that arguments which seemingly support the primacy of sentences do not really do so. The result is a paradigm example of The New Philosophy of Language: a rich melding of empirical work with traditional philosophy of language.
Full Product Details
Author: Robert Stainton (University of Western Ontario)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.40cm
, Height: 2.10cm
, Length: 24.00cm
Weight: 0.445kg
ISBN: 9780199250387
ISBN 10: 0199250383
Pages: 262
Publication Date: 03 August 2006
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
Stainton is a meticulous philosopher. In Words and Thoughts, he explains his positions and those of his opponents in great detail and with great care... the book is overall easy to read... Words and Thoughts is to be enthusiastically recommended to philosophers of language, particularly to the growing group of philosophers conversant with the cutting-edge work in linguistics. Edouard Machery, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews The harmony of this book is striking and laudable ... This book has consequences on the relationship between language and thought ... the book is interesting and rich in ideas ... should be read with great interest. Alessandro Capone, University of Messina
clearly written, meticulously organized, well argued, and highly informative book...Words and Thoughts is an interesting and often fascinating book. There is much to learn from it, thanks to the rich and varied linguistic ideas and psychological findings that Stainton brings into the discussion. Kent Bach Mind Stainton is a meticulous philosopher. In Words and Thoughts, he explains his positions and those of his opponents in great detail and with great care... the book is overall easy to read... Words and Thoughts is to be enthusiastically recommended to philosophers of language, particularly to the growing group of philosophers conversant with the cutting-edge work in linguistics. Edouard Machery, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews The harmony of this book is striking and laudable ... This book has consequences on the relationship between language and thought ... the book is interesting and rich in ideas ... should be read with great interest. Alessandro Capone, University of Messina
