ABSTRACT

In Chapter 9 (‘Language remade’) I examined various attempts to improve on ordinary language by introducing ‘more accurate’ alternatives for the purpose of philosophical enquiry. And in the last two chapters I have discussed ways in which, according to some writers, meanings may be affected by scientific findings, so that our knowledge of ‘what we say’ may not be the last word on questions of meaning. The view to be discussed now is that the language in which we speak about human beings may come to be exchanged altogether for a different one, conforming better to modern scientific theories about the human mind or brain and human behaviour. We ordinarily explain human behaviour in terms of such concepts as those of desire, belief and emotion, and this system has been in place, with a few variations, for thousands of years. It is, according to the view in question, a kind of primitive science – a ‘folk psychology’ – but the time for a more advanced system is now, or may soon be, at hand.