The Philosophy and Science of Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

0543508 - FLÚ 2022 RIV CH eng M - Monography Chapter
Peregrin, Jaroslav
The Complexities of Syntax.
The Philosophy and Science of Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020 - (Nefdt, R.; Klippi, C.; Karstens, B.), s. 13-42. ISBN 978-3-030-55437-8
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA20-18675S
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Syntax * Semantics * Rules * Carnap * Gödel * Searle
OECD category: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology

The concepts of syntax and semantics have nowadays become commonplace, both in logic and linguistics, moreover, they seem to belong to the cornerstones of their foundations. Yet the two concepts are far from transparent. It is not only that the terms syntax and semantics are used in different ways within logic and within linguistics, even within each of the two enterprises they tend to be ambiguous. At the same time it turned out that a meticulous specification of both of the concepts may be extremely useful: in logic, an advance in their clarification underlay the breakthrough effected by Gödel, while in linguistics it may help us disentangle the discussions about the nature of semantic theories, as they come to the fore for example in the discussions between Chomskyans and their opponents. Intuitively, we may hold that the contrast between syntax and semantics is clear enough (perhaps just a version of the age-old distinction between form and content?), but this intuition is treacherous. In this paper I try to show that the analyses of the concepts as carried out by Carnap and others revealed their unexpected complexities, and that such analyses may help us map the intricacy of this conceptual entanglement. Also I try to show that getting clear on this is not only needed for strengthening the foundations of logic and linguistics, but also for throwing new light on some widely discussed philosophical problems, such as the discussions about computers having “syntax, but no semantics” initiated by Searle.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0320703