Original scientific paper

Lexical Flexibility, Natural Language, and Ontology

Christopher A. Vogel ; University of Maryland, USA

Abstract

The Realist that investigates questions of ontology by appeal to the quantificational structure of language assumes that the semantics for the privileged language of ontology is externalist. I argue that such a language cannot be (some variant of) a natural language, as some Realists propose. The flexibility exhibited by natural language expressions noted by Chomsky and others cannot obviously be characterized by the rigid models available to the externalist. If natural languages are hostile to externalist treatments, then the meanings of natural language expressions serve as poor guides for ontological investigation, insofar as their meanings will fail to determine the referents of their constituents. This undermines the Realist’s use of natural languages to settle disputes in metaphysics.

Keywords

Ontology; realism; polysemy; metaphysical methodology; externalism; internalis

Hrčak ID:

180017

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/180017

Publication date:

11.4.2016.

Visits: 1.241 *