Skepticism and Language in Early Modern Philosophy

This book shows that at the beginning of modern thought the revival of ancient skepticism challenged the powers of the intellect in making knowledge possible, opening the way to the consideration of language as an alternative to mental representation, thus leading to an early linguistic turn.

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Danilo Marcondes argues that, contrary to a traditional view maintaining that language is not given any central role in early modern philosophy, there was what could be considered an “early linguistic turn” in the seventeenth century, opening a place for the philosophy of language as part of the philosophical system under construction at that period. Skepticism and Language in Early Modern Philosophy: The Early Linguistic Turn also claims that the revival of ancient skepticism at the modern age contributed decisively towards this “linguistic turn” in so far as it attacked the “powers of the intellect” in representing reality and making knowledge possible. Marcondes argues that the concept of language itself becomes crucial to this investigation since during this period it was understood in different ways by different thinkers leading to the central role which will be given to the philosophy of language in contemporary philosophy.