Philosophy of language

Human language is a unique phenomenon that has become one of the main criteria that distinguish man from animals. It gives people the opportunity to exchange any information, experience, etc. Even the backward tribes of Africa or Guinea have their own languages, the grammatical structure of which is sometimes quite complex. It is impossible even to imagine the absence of such a means of communication.

Language - a system of certain signs (sound, written, etc.), which is used by people to communicate, transfer knowledge and information. Units of it are not only individual words, but proposals, as well as texts that are composed of words and sentences.

The main functions of the language: signifying, that is, the definition of processes and concepts, communicative - communication. Its nature is social - that is, the subjects with its help are expressed in a generally valid form.

Contrary to popular belief, language can be called not only a means of communication used by people (English, Russian, etc.). There are so-called "artificial" languages. These include: related to science, programming, mathematics, as well as the notorious Esperanto. If the number of natural languages now exceeds 2,000 worldwide, the number of artificial counts is really difficult. Of the latter, a special place is occupied by formalized and machine.

The natural language as a system of conventional signs, certain knowledge, is the result of folk art. It reflects the folk culture and is a means of describing events and facts, conveys concepts that have developed over the centuries in one or another people, clearly expressing what is happening. In fact, there is nothing that could go beyond the human language, something that can not be described using his vocabulary and grammar. Since everything that happens can be expressed or defined using language, philosophy studies it. Such studies of the means of expressing thoughts are also important for psychology, linguistics and other sciences.

The philosophy of language includes a very broad field of research. She studies the relationship between language, thinking and reality, as well as knowledge that can interpret these relationships. All these three main listed spheres can be treated as independent, independent of each other.

The philosophy of language covers such areas as history, psychology and sociology of language, biology, linguistics, logic, is engaged in research of the essence of language, its origin and functions in society. Its essence is expressed by its two-fold function: to be a method of communication and at the same time an instrument of thinking. Language in philosophy is usually seen as a means of forming and expressing thoughts.

Means of communication and expression of their thoughts have long been paid much attention not only in philosophy or logic, but also in religion. Long before the philosophy of language appeared, the Bible recorded the following: "First there was a word ... the word was God." In other words, the authors of the Bible indicate the divine origin of the language. He, according to their beliefs, is a symbol of the divine universe. The philosophy of language can treat individual words as an expression of concepts, ideas, or as the name of phenomena or objects.

She also studies individual proposals. Any proposal can be considered from two positions: 1) what it corresponds to in reality 2) which way of connecting words in it is used. So, in the first case, its meaning and meaning are examined, and in the second case, the grammar. From the first position the sentence can be true or false, with the second one - to correspond to the grammatical rule or not to correspond to it.

Philosophers of the XVIII-XX centuries began to attach great importance to the correlation of concepts and words that express them. The word began to be perceived as a designation of thought or feeling. Began to appear ideas about the creation of rational artificial languages. In addition, over the past centuries, attempts have been made to create a language that is common to all peoples. As a result of one such attempt about 150 years ago the Warsaw ophthalmologist created Esperanto. At present, this language is understood by up to two million people. However, in everyday life, almost nobody speaks it.

Today there are three main concepts of the philosophy of language. The first of these is the philosophy of a name (things, essences, ideas), that is, a word that calls the essence of an object. The second is the predicate philosophy. A predicate is an expression that indicates a sign of something. The third concerns values.