The development of the analytical philosophy of language from the problem of meaning to the theory of speech acts

Abstract

The subject of the study is the development of the analytical philosophy of language in the twentieth century from the problem of meaning, which was central to the logic of G. Frege, in logical positivism and in the philosophy of B. Russell, to the theory of speech acts, that is, the development from semantics to pragmatics. The main attention is focused on such problems as the problem of the essence of language, the problem of meaning and reference, the nature of communication, and the theory of speech acts. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the concepts of meaning in different representatives of analytical philosophy. A special place is given in this context to the ideas of L. Wittgenstein and H. Putnam's. It is also important to find out the reasons for the transition of analytical philosophy to communication problems. The specific features of the concepts of speech acts by such thinkers as D. Austin and D. Searle are also considered. The article uses such research methods as historical and philosophical analysis, socio-critical, as well as comparative methods. The novelty of the research lies in identifying how philosophers followed the path of updating and deepening the problem of meaning and reference, as well as what the specifics of each solution are. The changes that took place in the philosophy of language in the twentieth century, introduced, first of all, by L. Wittgenstein during the "linguistic turn", are considered. Significant innovations introduced into the descriptive-analytical linguistic theory of speech acts related to the names of D. Austin and D. Searle are also shown. Austin's characterized and classified speech acts, D. Searle's combined the problem of speech communication with the problem of intentionality, as a fundamental ability of human consciousness. A critical flaw in the theory of speech acts is pointed out: in fact, it does not explain the nature of dialogue, since it presents a variety of monologues.