Title
Language and know-how
Document Type
Journal Article
RIS ID
34611
Abstract
I address the assumption that communicative interaction is made possible by knowledge of a language. I argue that this assumption as it is usually expressed depends on an unjustified reification of language, and on an unsatisfactory understanding of ‘knowledge’. I propose instead that communicative interaction is made possible by (Rylean) know-how and by the development of (Davidsonian) passing theories. We then come to see that our focus ought to be, not on propositional knowledge of a language which we internally represent, but on the practical application of know-how in our understanding and interpretation of others.
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Publication Details
Simpson, D. I. (2010). Language and know-how. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 9 (4), 629-643.