LANGUAGE AND ILLUMINATION

Transcription

1 S. MORRIS ENGEL LANGUAGE AND ILLUMINATION Studies in the History of Philosophy MARTlNUS NIJHOFF I THE HAGUE

2 MARTINUS NIjHOFF - PUBLISHER - THE HAGUE In these essays, written originally in response to certain views and doctrines of linguistic philosophy, the author has tried to argue that although linguistic philosophy's impact upon our understanding and conception of philosophy has been profound, its contribution to our understanding of the history of philosophy, including its own history, has unfortunately all too often been disappointing, superficial and misguided. While this seems rather remarkable, especially since the tool which it has fashioned is obviously not without its uses even here, in the light of its negative and restrictive conception of language the results it has achieved are not after all perhaps surprising or unexpected. The author has tried to correct some of these misreadings and misinterpretations by pointing out that language is something more than what it has generally been taken to be - on the contrary, that it has uses we have yet to account for and depths which we have yet to fathom. For although language certainly possesses a great capacity for deception, its capacity for illumination is no less profound. It is the failure to see this that has led linguistic philosophy to give the kind of verdict on the history of philosophy which is now so familiar to us. But that verdict is neither warranted by the facts nor a necessary consequence of its theory. For far from being antithetical, facts and theory are here mutually illuminating. About the author: Born March 3, 1931; studied at the University of Manitoba, (B.A., 1953; M.A., 1955) and at the University of Toronto (Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1959); Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick ( ); Canada Council Fellow ( ); Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California ( ); Associate Professor (1964--present). In addition to other articles in the journals, Dr. Engel is also the author of The Problem of Trag,dy XI and 141 pages. Guilders 19.80

3 MARTINUS NljHOFF - PUBLISHER - THE HAGUE Adamczewski, Zygmunt, The tragic protest VI and 282 pp. Guilders 27. Penetrating studies valuable to a wide range of readers interested in literature or philosophy. The book opens a deeper view of the tragic protest in its existential setting. Alexander, W. M., Johann Georg Hamann: philosophy and faith XII and 212 pp. Guilders Ardley, Gavin, Berkeley's renovation of philosophy XV and 179 pp. Guilders Atlas, Samuel, From critical to speculative idealism. The philosophy of Solomon Maimon XI and 335 pp. Cloth. Guilders 27.- Byrne, Edmund F., Probability and opinion. A study in the medieval presuppositions of post-medieval theories of probability XXX and 329 pp. Guilders Carlo, W. E., The ultimate reducibility of essence to existence in existential metaphysics. Preface by W. N. Clarke XVII and 150 pp. Guilders 23.- Feibleman, James K., Foundations of empiricism VIII and 389 pp. Cloth. Guilders Moral Strategy. An introduction to the ethics of confrontation XI and 325 pp. Cloth. Guilders Inside the great mirror. A critical examination of the philosophy of Russell, Wittgenstein, and their followers. Photomechanical reprint pages. Guilders 18.- Gobar, Ash, Philosophic foundations of genetic psychology and Gestalt Psychology. A comparative study of the empirical basis, theoretical structure, and epistemological groundwork of European biological psychology XXVIII and 331 pp. Guilders Johnson, Oliver A., Moral knowledge X and 172 pp. Guilders Livergood, Norman D., Activity in Marx's philosophy XII and 109 pp. Guilders MacDonald, Lauchlin D., John Grote. A critical estimate of his writings XXI and 284 pp. Guilders 38.50

4 MARTINUS NIjHOFF - PUBLISHER - THE HAGUE Mesthene, Emmanuel G., How lan~age makes us know. Some views about the nature of intelligibility. With a foreword by John Herman Randall Jr XIII and 111 pp. Guilders O'Malley, John B., The fellowship of being. An essay on the concept of person in the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel XII and 140 pp. Guilders 20.- Richardson, D. B., Berdyaev's Philosophy of History. An Existentialist Theory of Social Creativity and Eschatology. Preface by Charles Hartshorne XXII and 192 pp. Guilders Rotenstreich, Nathan, Experience and its systematization. Studies in Kant VII and 178 pp. Guilders 'Spirit and man. An essay on being and value pp. Guilders Spakovsky, Aaatol von, Freedom, determinism, indeterminism VII and 117 pp. Guilders VyciDas, Vincent, Earth and Gods. An introduction to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger XII and 323 pp. Cloth. Guilders Greatness and philosophy. An inquiry into Western thought XI and 294 pp. Guilders Zabeeh, F., Hume, precursor of modern empiricism. An analysis of his opinions on meaning, metaphysics, logic and mathematics pp. Guilders Universals. A new look at an old problem XII and 68 pp. Guilders What is in a name? An inquiry into the semantics and pragmatics of proper names VII and 78 pp. Guilders 10.- For sales in the Netherlands: Local Sales Tax (B.T.W.) not included. ODe guilder = abo $ 0.28 = abo sh 2/4 = en". F& = ca. DMW Obtainable through any bookssller or directly from the publisher

5 LANGUAGE AND ILLUMINATION

6 LANGUAGE AND ILLUMINATION Studies in the History of Philosophy by S. MORRIS ENGEL..:T: ~ : MARTINUS NIJHOFF / THE HAGUE /1969

7 ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI 1969 by Martinus NijhojJ, The Hague, Netherlands All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1969

8 To Phyllis Michael and Hartley with Love

9 FOREWORD Although all the essays which make up this volume can be read as independent studies - and were in fact originally written as such - it is my hope that the reader will see that a unitary thread runs through them and that together they tell a story of their own. Written originally in response to certain views and doctrines of linguistic philosophy, the point which I have tried to argue in them is that although linguistic philosophy's impact upon our understanding and conception of philosophy has been profound, its contribution to our understanding of the history of philosophy, including its own history, has unfortunately all too often been disappointing, superficial and misguided. While this seems rather remarkable, especially since the tool which it has fashioned is obviously not without its uses even here, in the light of its negative and restrictive conception of language the results achieved are not after all perhaps surprising or unexpected. In the studies which follow I have tried to correct some of these misreadings and misinterpretations by pointing out that language is something more than what it has generally been taken to be - on the contrary, that it has uses we have yet to account for and depths which we have yet to fathom. For although, as I try to say in them, language certainly possesses a great capacity for deception, its capacity for illumination is no less profound. It is the failure to see this that has led linguistic philosophy to give the kind of verdict of the history of philosophy which is now so familiar to us. But that verdict is neither warranted by the facts nor a necessary consequence of the theory. For far from being antithetical, facts and theory are here, as I have also tried to show in what follows, mutually illuminating. It is in this light that I hope the reader will consider the studies which follow. On their positive side I believe he will find in these essays an attempt to deal in a fresh way with such recurrent and recurring prob-

10 VIII Foreword lems as the nature of philosophy, the limits of language, isomorphism, novelty and creativity. Whether I have also succeeded in saying something worthwhile concerning these matters is not, of course, for me to say. Los Angeles, Calif. September, 1968

11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The papers which follow originally appeared in the following journals: 1) "Hobbes's 'Table of Absurdity' ", The Philosophical Review, 60 (1961), Also reprinted in Hobbes Studies, ed. by Keith C. Brown (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1965), ) "Language and the Structure of Locke's Essay," The Indian Journal of Philosophy 3 (1961), ) "Kant's 'Refutation' of the Ontological Argument," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 24 (1963), Also reprinted in Kant: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. by Robert Paul Wolff (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1967), ) "Isomorphism and Linguistic Waste," Mind 74 (1965), ) "Reason, Morals and Philosophic Irony," The Personalist 45 (1964), ) "Thought and Language," Dialogue 3 (1964), ) "An Early Nietzsche Fragment on Language," The Journal of the History of Ideas 24 (1963), ) "Analogy and Equivocation in Hobbes," Philosophy 37 (1962), ) "On the 'Composition' of the Critique," Ratio 6 (1964), ) "Kant's Copernican Analogy: A Re-Examination," Kant-Studien 54 (1963), I am grateful to the Editors and Publishers concerned for permission to reprint these papers here. A number of these papers were written while the author held a Canada Council Fellowship. I am glad to have this opportunity to thank the Council again for making this work possible.

12 T ABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Acknowledgements VII IX I 1. Hobbes's "Table of Absurdity" 2. Language and the Structure of Locke's Essay 3. Kant's "Refutation" of the Ontological Argument II 4. Isomorphism and Linguistic Waste 5. Reason, Morals and Philosophic Irony 6. Thought and Language 7. An Early Nietzsche Fragment on Language III 8. Analogy and Equivocation in Hobbes On the "Composition" of the Critique. A Brief Comment Kant's Copernican Analogy. A Re-Examination 127 Name Index 138 Subject Index 140