What does it take to be a philosopher of language (and how to distinguish one from a linguist)?

Abstract

The paper focuses on the questions concerning the status of philosophy at the beginning of the 21st century - its place within the field of human knowledge and the definition of its relationship with special sciences. It stresses and maps out that particular dimension of 20th century philosophy which involves the linguistic turn and initiation and formulation of the methodology of science and the role of philosophy in the establishment of (philosophical) foundations of scientific knowledge. A model example of the aforementioned questions presented in the paper is an analysis of the development of relationship between the so-called analytical philosophy of language and linguistics: their (mutually defined) position in the process of investigation of human language and speech is outlined, the possibilities of drawing a line between the two approaches is investigated. The nature of their contacts (and that there are such contacts is beyond doubt) is characterized and the reasons of these processes are discussed. Based on this groundwork we try to define the space for philosophical investigation related to language. An analysis of what forms this space may take should then result in an answer to the question of what exactly is the meaning of the expression "specifically philosophical approach and its benefits".