“I think I am understanding the claims and importance of ordinary language philosophy better these days, but I must admit that I am feeling more and more alone as I do my work.”
— Richard Fleming, First Word Philosophy, (Bucknell University Press, 2004), 112.
“Ordinary Language” philosophy is a method and style of doing philosophy most strongly associated with and exemplified by the philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976), J. L. Austin (1911-1960), and Stanley Cavell (1926-2018). However, the various ordinary language philosophers have always been a heterogeneous group, and despite their shared method and style, hardly constitute a philosophical “school.” While philosophers have always been interested in language and its relationship to the world, the so-called “linguistic turn” in 20th century philosophy (particularly in anglophone philosophy) took interest in language to a whole new level. Roughly speaking, ordinary language philosophers can be divided into two groups (Chappell 1964:2). The first group was led by Ludwig Wittgenstein and can loosely be called the Wittgensteinians. Norman Malcolm, Elizabeth Anscombe, O. K. Bouwsma, Morris Lazerowitz.
The second group of ordinary language philosophers centered in Oxford in the years after World War II and was led initially by Gilbert Ryle and J. L. Austin. “Oxford philosophers” (hence why ordinary language philosophy is sometimes called “Oxford philosophy”) include P. F. Strawson, Hart, Hampshire, Hare, Urmson, and Warnock.
Below are nine names which ordinary language philosophers have used to describe or characterize the kind of philosophical method they practice and the philosophical commitments and ideals they espouse.
“Anglo(-American) Analytic(al) Philosophy”
“Linguistic Analysis”
“Linguistic Philosophy”
(Hallett 2008)
“Ordinary Language Philosophy”
“Linguistic Phenomenology”
(Austin)
“First Word Philosophy”
(Austin)
“The Philosophy of Constraints and Entanglements”
(Fleming 2004)
“New Philosophy” or “New Criticism”
(Cavell)
“Human Philosophy”
(Fleming)
Bibliography & Recommended Further Reading
Chappell, Vere Claiborne. 1964. Ordinary Language: Essays in Philosophical Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Moore, G. E. Philosophical Papers. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1959.
Moore, G. E. Philosophical Studies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1922.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. The Blue and Brown Books. Oxford: Basil Blackwell & Mott, Ltd, 1958.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell & Mott, 1953.
Lazerowitz, Morris. The Structure of Metaphysics. London: Routledge, 1955.
Malcolm, Norman. Dreaming. London: Routledge, 1959.
Malcolm, Norman. Knowledge and Certainty. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1963.
Waismann, Friedrich, “Analytic-Synthetic,” Analysis. 10:25-40.
Wisdom, John. Philosophy and Psycho-Analysis. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1953.
Austin, J. L. How to Do Things with Words. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1962.
Austin, J. L. Philosophical Papers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1961.
Austin, J. L. Sense and Sensibilia. Oxford: Clarendon, 1962.
Flew, Anthony (Ed.). Essays in Conceptual Analysis. London: Macmillan, 1956.
Hampshire, Stuart. Thought and Action. London: Chatto & Windus, 1959.
Ryle, Gilbert. The Concept of Mind. London: Hutchinson, 1949.
Ryle, Gilbert. Dilemmas. London: Cambridge University Press, 1954.
Ryle, Gilbert. Philosophical Arguments. Oxford: Clarendon, 1945.
Strawson, P. F. Individuals. London: Methuen, 1959.
Ayer, A. J. et al. The Revolution in Philosophy. London: Macmillan, 1956.