Language, philosophy and logic: What relationship?From thinking through language to thinking in language

Abstract

Abstract: Since humans are social by nature and can only live within a human society, they are inevitably bound to communicate with the members of their community and exchange goods, services, and ideas through language, as it represents an essential condition for the formation and actualization of human thought. Words are a language, music is a language, painting is a language, and in this sense, the forms of language are multiple. Similarly, human knowledge can only form, develop and be transmitted across time and space, from one generation to another, through language. Language is closely linked to thought, as human ideas are always shaped in a linguistic form, even in internal thought, for thought is a silent language. It is only through language that an idea attains its actual existence. The question of the nature of language leads us to inquire about its symbolic dimension and its multiple meanings. As a human characteristic, it signifies the unity of the human trait, while at the same time, with the diversity of languages and the multiplicity of speech levels, it points to the variety within language. Thus, language forms a symbolic system that realizes the process of self-awareness and awareness of others. This is where the importance of language and its functional role in the communication process lies. Because of this role, language has garnered attention from philosophers and phenomenological structuralists, as it is used at all levels and in various cognitive fields—philosophical, scientific, logical. Linguists study it to uncover the rules that govern it, while philosophers study it to gain knowledge that helps them solve the problems they encounter. If language is the expression of human thought and one of its main functions is communication, then logic is the measure of thought and its mechanisms. Through its rules and criteria, logic allows us to discern the points of truth and error that circulate in our minds and thoughts. Since philosophy is divided into three main branches — epistemology (knowledge), ontology (being), and axiology (value) — and logic falls under the theory of value, i.e., axiology, it is undeniable that there is a connection between logic as a tool of thought and language as a tool for expressing thought. Philosophy, in turn, relies on logic and uses language. Language, in particular, has become a subject of research in contemporary philosophy and in the writings of the most prominent philosophers and intellectuals of our time, leading to the emergence of the philosophy of language. Keywords: Language; Logic ; Philosophy of Language ; Analytical Philosophy