JoLMA The Journal for the Philosophy of Language, Mind and the Arts

Rivista | JoLMA
Fascicolo monografico | Special issue
Articolo | The Grammar of the Ordinary

The Grammar of the Ordinary

Abstract

In this paper I explore what it means to take ordinary language as the raw material of philosophy. To do so, I contrast what I call ‘grammar’ or the grammatical approach, which is characteristic of L. Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations and ‘ordinary language philosophy’ (OLP) as J.L. Austin understood it. I show that, while ‘standard’ OLP tends to focus on ‘historical situations’ understood as virtually plausible stagings of our actual uses of concepts, and thus contrasts ‘normal’ and ‘parasitic’ uses of language; the grammarian focuses on the logical possibilities of language through the invention of fictitious language-games. The latter thus extends the ‘ordinary’ up to the abnormal and the extraordinary and rather contrasts it with mere apparent uses that are no uses of language at all.


Open access

Presentato: 12 Febbraio 2024 | Pubblicato 14 Ottobre 2024 | Lingua: en

Keywords Use</p>Ordinary Language PhilosophyAustinWittgensteinGrammar<p>WittgensteinUseOrdinary Language


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