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Document Details :

Title: Het taaldier mens
Subtitle: Over de ontologische reikwijdte van onze linguïstische capaciteit
Author(s): CLAEYS, Martha , VANHEESWIJCK, Guido
Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie
Volume: 79    Issue: 3   Date: 2017   
Pages: 565-575
DOI: 10.2143/TVF.79.3.3271936

Abstract :
How can we, as thinking and speaking human beings, affirm our direct access to the everyday world and reality? For Charles Taylor, answering that question is tantamount to constructing an ontological alternative to the naturalist ontology that he has opposed since the late 1950s. In this critical study we read Taylor’s latest monograph The Language Animal as an exercise in philosophy of language in order to formulate that alternative answer. First, we present the quintessence of his theory of language, as expounded in The Language Animal. Subsequently, we look at the specific role of language in his philosophical search for a direct access to reality against the backdrop of his constitutive theory of language. Finally, we examine the commonalities and differences between Hans Blumenberg and Charles Taylor, both of whom focus on the constitutive role of (metaphorical) language and its ontological implications.

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