Philosophical Essays on Language, Ontology and Science

How to interpret in philosophy the common but enigmatic relation between knowledge, ontology and semantics? The "linguistic turn" in philosophy, the birth of philosophy of science and of philosophy of language, from the beginning of twentieth century until today, have given new energies to such a debate in western thinking, but this question is much more ancient. From a certain point of view, Aristotle's ontology, in continuity with Platonic thought, is wholly a semantic ontology: in a systematic and pervasive way Aristotle researches the structures of the world - of the being - and of knowledge employing the structures of language. In this way the philosophical reflection on nature and on human being becomes the reflection on how language works and on how language organizes knowledge. This book, which mixes analytical and continental styles of thought, collects essays on the complex relation between science, language and ontology, written by scholars experienced in different fields of philosophical research: philosophy of science, philosophy of language, logic, ethics and philosophy of mind.