naa a22 4500 510788874 CHVBK 20180411083312.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11406-012-9380-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11406-012-9380-7 Cain M. Department of History, Religion and Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University, Harcourt Hill Campus, OX2 9AT, Oxford, UK aut Conventions and Their Role in Language [Elektronische Daten] [M. Cain] Two of the most fundamental questions about language are these: what are languages?; and, what is it to know a given language? Many philosophers who have reflected on these questions have presented answers that attribute a central role to conventions. In one of its boldest forms such a view runs as follows. Languages are either social entities constituted by networks of social conventions or abstract objects where when a particular community speaks a given language they do so in virtue of the conventions operative within that community. Consequently, for an individual to know a given language is for them to be party to the relevant conventions. Call this view conventionalism. In this article my aim is to evaluate conventionalism. I will argue that although there are linguistic conventions and that they do play an important role in language development and communication conventionalism should be rejected in favour of a more psychologistically orientated position. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2012 Conventions nationallicence Communication nationallicence Meaning nationallicence Syntax nationallicence Universal Grammar nationallicence Philosophia Springer Netherlands 41/1(2013-03-01), 137-158 0048-3893 41:1<137 2013 41 11406 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-012-9380-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-012-9380-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Cain M. Department of History, Religion and Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University, Harcourt Hill Campus, OX2 9AT, Oxford, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Philosophia Springer Netherlands 41/1(2013-03-01), 137-158 0048-3893 41:1<137 2013 41 11406 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer