| J. L. Austin is a important representative of Oxford School featuring analyzing ordinary languages in modern Britain, and his methods about analysis to ordinary languages had briefed us a useful approach that is not only different from traditional abstract speculative philosophy, also different from the analytic methods of artificial language. In the series of lectures, entitled Sense and Sensibilia, Austin have set about Ayer’s so-called’Sense-datum Theory’in a rather in-depth way. Based as a set of careful descriptions resorting to ordinary language, Austin tries to make it clear that in an obsession with a few particular words, sense-datum theorists actually developed a pseudo-philosophical theory, namely, Sense-datum Theory.The paper would be divided into four chapters according to Austin’ dissolving sense-datum theory. Chapter One mainly introduces Austin’s general opinion about the theory. Meanwhile, the varieties of sources in philosophical history as to this theory would be showed more clearly. According to the two approaches to dissolve the sense-datum theory implied by Austin’s general view, it would take two chapters to interpret it. According to Austin’s descriptions of ordinary uses of fundamental conceptions of sense-datum theory, Chapter Two aims to clear up the various intentions in constructing so-called philosophical theory, namely, over-simplification, schematization, and Gleichschaltung. Chapter Three has its goals make it clear that various facts of perception as to Ayer’s’the argument from illusion’. In my opinion, all these analysis would lead us to realize that sense-datum theorists’ ignoring the ordinary uses of ordinary words had eroded our fundamental understanding to our ordinary life. Chapter Four aims to comment on Ayer’s counter-criticism.In general, the paper tries to participate in the dialogue formed in the available arguments between Austin and Ayer. In my opinion, it is obvious that we would have to confront various difficulties when it comes to find out a available approach to set about philosophical investigations according to some patterns of constructions of scientific theories. That is to say, the patterns to construct scientific theory actually resort to some quantify, parameterize the conceptions involved. When it comes to our obsessions to sense-datum theory, it is possible that a plain man has formed ordinary understandings of ordinary words on which the certainty of sense-datum theory relied. It seems to me, according to the point available, we can find out the new genuine methods relying on Austin’s analysis to ordinary language. In fact, based on this quite fantastic genuine, we may understand philosophy itself again, and maybe develop philosophical methods that suits the spirits in our time.In my opinion, as to the method to analyze ordinary language in Austin’s dissolving the sense datum theory, it may be take more time to digest the points in our philosophical history. In fact, it is possible that the essential powers of Austin’s critique have always hidden in his texts, and we can not emphasize the importance to our philosophical investigations to benefit a few more from them too much. We’d better bring up a view on which we can catch up the various directions of developments of ordinary language, and then, catch up the reality more carefully. However, it is also quite useful to reduce the scholastic moods in philosophical investigations. In fact, resorting to this hints based as Austin’s methods, the paper aims to make such a distinctions between (a)’the use of word’ and ’the meaning of word’; (b)’forms of grammars’ and ’forms of logic’ that we can understand the essences of’linguistic turn’ more clearly. Back at the sense-datum theory, the paper has as its goals clear out the power of Austin’s method, namely, analysis to ordinary language. |
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