Kantian Linguistic Tradition in Peter Strawson's Philosophy of Language

The article presents a research upon the Kantian linguistic tradition for philosophy of language in Peter Strawson's theory of descriptive metaphysics and conceptual scheme seen as a new stage in the evolution of philosophy of language. The aim of the article is to justify the existence of the Kantian linguistic tradition as a tendency for analytic philosophy. Mikhail Smirnov's thesis of the non-Kantian linguistic tradition in the philosophy of language is refuted. Smirnov's arguments are under discussion because his perception of the Kantian linguistic tradition and the language philosophy lead to their misinterpretation, for the Kantian philosophy and the theory of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf (taken as the issue of philosophy of language) differ in their basis. Hence, Smirnov's premise is false a priori. Kant's philosophy itself is contradictory and presents no syncretic theory as a system. This leads to various interpretations of Kant's philosophy as different possible trends in analytic philosophy. The central issue of reality and its perception in analytic philosophy derives from the Kantian tradition. The latter is developed by Strawson in his theory of descriptive metaphysics, transcendental logic and conceptual scheme. Strawson transforms Kant's metaphysics, associates logical categories with grammar. Strawson eliminates the ambiguity of Kant's theory and develops his theory of a priori judgments. Empirical judgements in the insight appear implicit. Kant's influence upon Strawson confirms the existence of the Kantian linguistic tradition as a tendency in analytic philosophy. In his paper "The Individuals", Strawson elaborates categories for the structure of his theory's scheme of concepts being the insight essence of both logical and linguistic origin, studies speech and distinguishes particulars from universals that denote various objects of reality and their qualities as well as the subject and the predicate. According to Strawson, tine and space are represented as conceptual linguistic categories. Strawson's conceptual scheme was borrowed by cognitive linguistics. Strawson excludes relativism. His descriptive metaphysics justifies the ontological significance of language as it reflects reality. As a stage in philosophy of language, Kant presents the category of modality. The transcendentalism of the Kantian subject transforms into the transcendentalism of the intermediary (language).

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