语言的先在性与可能世界的构造

The Primacy of Language and the Construction of Possible Worlds

哲学自产生以来就以求真作为其终极旨趣,语言是求真的手段,是认知的工具。近代主体哲学强调“我思”的先在性,把语言视为思维的附属物,着力解决认知主体与客观实在之间的关系。语言转向后,尽管对语言的重视成为共识,但求真的目标没有改变。主流语言哲学仍是传统认知哲学的延续,把语言与世界的关系问题视为首要问题。笔者认为,认知活动必须以承认语言的先在性为前提,并且认知活动仅是语言众多使用方式中的一种。人们在使用语言的过程中,除了试图描述经验世界,还通过语言来构造一种可能的世界。可能世界是对未发生事实的一种想象,是对理想性世界的一种描述。对于哲学家来说,仅满足观察语言、澄清概念是不够的,创造概念,发展出一种关于可能世界的理论同样是哲人的使命。

Philosophy has taken truth seeking as its ultimate purport since it came into being,and language is only a means to seek truth,a tool of cognition.Modern subject philosophy emphasizes the primacy of“I think”,regards language as an adjunct of thinking,and tries to solve the relationship between cognitive subject and objective reality.After the turn of language,although the emphasis on language has become a consensus,but the goal of seeking truth has not changed.The mainstream philosophy of language is still the continuation of traditional cognitive philosophy and regards the relationship between language and the world as the primary issue.The author believes that cognitive activity must be based on the recognition of the primacy of language,and it is one case of many ways of using language.In the process of using language,people not only try to describe the experience world,but also construct a possible world through language.The possible world is an imagination of the fact that has not happened,a description of the ideal world.For philosophers,it is not enough to merely observe and clarify concepts in language,but also to create concepts and develop a theory of the possible world.