Abstract
This paper discusses the coverage of ordinary language philosophy in Scott Soames' Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century. After praising the book's virtues, I raise three points where I dissent from Soames' take on the history. First, I suggest that there is more to ordinary language philosophy than the rather implausible version of it that Soames sees to have been destroyed by Grice. Second, I argue that confusions between analyticity, necessity and priority are less important to the ordinary language period than Soames takes them to be. Finally, I claim that Soames' criticisms of Ryle turn in part on attributing reductionist positions to Ryle that Ryle did not hold.
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Contribution to Symposium on Scott Soames, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, volume 2
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Weatherson, B. Doing philosophy with words. Philos Stud 135, 429–437 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-006-9026-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-006-9026-3