The Linguistic Carnival of Thought

The Linguistic Carnival of Thought: Comparative Philosophy and the Dynamics of Language argues that the practice of philosophizing is significantly influenced by linguistic structures. Against the widespread view that all languages are reducible to the same matrix on a deep-structural level, Rein Raud presents ample evidence to the contrary, demonstrating how different strategies of predication, postulation, negation, individuation, and so on vary greatly and present incompatible combinations in natural languages, which are nonetheless suitable for precise and rational argumentation. This book compares the views of language presented by Plato, Kongzi/Xunzi, and Bhartrhari; discusses "pansemioticism," or the view that reality itself is significant (addressing Yijing, East Asian Buddhism, the Kabbalah, the philosophies of Peirce, Derrida, and others); juxtaposes the set-theoretical ontology of Badiou and the mereological worldview of Huayan Buddhism; and discusses various critiques of the idea of "truth" (Wittgenstein, Deleuze, Foucault) and a way to accommodate them through the logic of Dignaga, among other topics. With examples from languages and philosophical traditions across the world, the book is an ideal introduction to the problematic for monolingual speakers of English and a scintillating exploration for polyglots.

Rein Raud is distinguished professor of Asian and cultural studies at the School of Humanities, University of Tallinn, Estonia.

Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Language, Languaging, Philosophy, Philosophizing Chapter 1. Languaging Philosophically Chapter 2. The Description Chapter 3. Linguistic Relativity Coda Part II: Philosophy as a Cultural Practice Chapter 4. Cultural Practices Chapter 5. Philosophy and the Networks of Power Chapter 6. Philosophizing vs "Philosophy": In Defense of a Flexible (Re)Definition Coda Part III: Language as a Medium of Conceptualization Chapter 7. Linguistic Strategies of Worldbuilding Chapter 8. Sets, Members, Wholes, Parts Chapter 9. Object- And Event-Orientation: Japanese Notions of "Thingness" Coda Part IV: Reality, Signification, Truth Chapter 10. Names and Things: Three Early Views Chapter 11. Pansemioticism Chapter 12. Telling the Truth Coda Afterword References