Philosophy of Language
Like much philosophical discussion during his time in England, Crathorn considered the linguistic aspects of science. He questioned whether that when we know something scientifically, is that knowledge about external things, propositions, or some other more complex thing. It is believed that Crathorn popularized the notion that neither the external aspect or the proposition is the proper object of science, that the "total significance" of the proposition is most important.
He also discussed the nature of mental language, namely whether it is conventional or natural. Crathorn's predecessors had argued that thinking occurs in a universal language of concepts acquired causally via experience, and that all conventional languages are subordinated to this mental language, which is shared by everyone in an a priori fashion. But Crathorn could not accept such a position because of his view that only qualities are natural signs of their extra-mental significates. Crathorn argued that except for natural signs of qualities, mental language is conventional because it is derived from conventional language. Hence, whatever language one speaks in his head is modeled on that language used for external communication. Crathorn was the revolutionary in his time to affirm that words are prior to ideas and that ideas are shaped by words.
Read more about this topic: William Crathorn
Famous quotes containing the words philosophy of, philosophy and/or language:
“The very hope of experimental philosophy, its expectation of constructing the sciences into a true philosophy of nature, is based on induction, or, if you please, the a priori presumption, that physical causation is universal; that the constitution of nature is written in its actual manifestations, and needs only to be deciphered by experimental and inductive research; that it is not a latent invisible writing, to be brought out by the magic of mental anticipation or metaphysical mediation.”
—Chauncey Wright (18301875)
“The philosophers conception of things will, above all, be truer than other mens, and his philosophy will subordinate all the circumstances of life. To live like a philosopher is to live, not foolishly, like other men, but wisely and according to universal laws.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful booka book that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger, but which told its mind to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as if it uttered them with a voice. And it was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)