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concept1945-1970

Ordinary Language Philosophy

Disciplines:
philosophy

Summary

The philosophical movement associated with the late Wittgenstein and Oxford philosophers (Austin, Ryle) holding that philosophical problems arise from misuse of ordinary language and should be dissolved by attending to how language actually works.

Core Contribution

Philosophy as therapy (Wittgenstein): philosophical problems are not solved but dissolved — they arise when language 'goes on holiday' (words are taken out of their ordinary context). Language games: meaning is use within a form of life, not a relationship between words and world. Austin's speech act theory: language does not only describe — it also performs actions (promising, warning, asserting). Ryle's category mistakes (The Concept of Mind): the mind-body problem arises from treating mental vocabulary as if it referred to a ghostly inner substance.

Historical Influences

Wittgenstein Moore

Intellectual Lineage

Analytic Philosophy Logical Positivism

Allied Works

Philosophical Investigations How to Do Things with Words The Concept of Mind

Contemporaries & Peers

Logical Positivism Formal Logic

Minds Influenced

Speech Act Theory Pragmatics Philosophy of Mind

Intellectual Posterity

Speech Act Theory Philosophy of Language Pragmatics

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Ordinary Language Philosophy

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