Method
Ordinary-Language Analysis
Classification
- Method family
- analytical
- Domains
- Philosophy of Language
Overview
Ordinary-language analysis examines how expressions work in everyday contexts to diagnose philosophical confusion and clarify the concepts at issue.
Purpose. The method tests whether a philosophical puzzle depends on taking words outside the uses that give them sense. It is a repeatable practice used by Ordinary Language Philosophy, not another name for that historical movement.
Characteristic operations
- Identify the troublesome expression: Locate the word or phrase on which the philosophical problem turns.
- Collect ordinary uses: Compare how competent speakers use it across concrete situations.
- Mark distinctions: Notice contrasts, exceptions, and conditions that an abstract formulation suppresses.
- Reframe the problem: Decide whether the puzzle should be clarified, divided, or dissolved in light of those uses.
Used by traditions
Applied to questions
References
- J. L. Austin, 'A Plea for Excuses,' Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 57 (1956–57)
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Ordinary Language Philosophy, §§1 and 3