Prof. Ulf Hlobil presents "Is Philosophy of Language Just Bad Linguistics?"

Prof. Ulf Hlobil will present a talk at the Concordia Center for Cognitive Science on 26 November, 2019 at 5 p.m. in room H-663-21, Hall Building, 1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve West. His talk is entitled "Is Philosophy of Language Just Bad Linguistics?"

Abstract:

Spoiler alert: I think the answer is “no”; philosophy of language is not just bad linguistics. But why? After all, languages and the ability to use them are empirical phenomena, which are presumably best studied by empirical methods. Is there any room for a non-empirical branch of the understanding of language (beyond use of mathematics within linguistics)?  If so, what could it be? And why should we care about it? I will address these issues by distinguishing the goals and questions of philosophy of language and linguistics, while also pointing to areas of overlap. At various points in the talk, I will use the semantic paradoxes as examples and illustrations.

Prof. Ulf Hlobil is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Concordia University.