Treatise on Basic Philosophy: Semantics I: Sense and Reference

by Mario Bunge

In this Introduction we shall sketch a profile of our field of inquiry. This is necessary because semantics is too often mistaken for lexicography and therefore dismissed as trivial, while at other times it is disparaged for being concerned with reputedly shady characters such as meaning and allegedly defunct ones like truth. Moreover our special concern, the semantics of science, is a newcomer - at least as a systematic body - and therefore in need of an introduction. l. GOAL Semantics is the field of inquiry centrally concerned with meaning and truth. It can be empirical or nonempirical. When brought to bear on concrete objects, such as a community of speakers, semantics seeks to answer problems concerning certain linguistic facts - such as disclosing the interpretation code inherent in the language or explaning the speakers' ability or inability to utter and understand new sentences ofthe language. This kind of semantics will then be both theoretical and it will be a branch of what used to be called 'behavioral science'.

Genres: Philosophy

202 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1974

About the author

Mario Augusto Bunge fue un físico, filósofo, epistemólogo y humanista argentino; Bunge por encima de todo fue un filósofo materialista, defensor del realismo científico y de la filosofía exacta. Fue conocido por expresar públicamente su postura contraria a las pseudociencias, entre las que incluye al psicoanálisis, la praxeología, la homeopatía, la microeconomía neoclásica (u ortodoxa) entre otras, además de sus críticas contra corrientes filosóficas como el existencialismo (y, especialmente, la obra de Martin Heidegger), la fenomenología, el posmodernismo, la hermenéutica, y el feminismo filosófico.

Reviews

[Rafael Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed seeing a systemic philosophy from beginning to end, this being the first volume. Enjoy life and help live.