ภาษาและความจริงในข้อถกเถียงร่วมสมัย: การสะท้อนคิดผ่านแนวคิดรากเหง้าภาษาของเจิ่นดึ๊กถ่าว

Abstract

This thesis aimed to achieve three objectives: 1) to examine contemporary debates on language and reality, 2) to explore Tran Duc Thao’s concept of language origin, and 3) to analyze the issue of language and reality through the lens of Tran Duc Thao’s concept of language origin. This research is documentary research and is presented through analytical descriptions. The research revealed differing opinions within contemporary debates regarding issues related to language and reality. This study concentrated on two issues: the conditions of linguistic signification, and the meanings of words and sentences. For the first issue, three perspectives emerged: the externalist view, the internalist view, and a perspective that rejected both external and internal factors in signification. Regarding the second issue, four perspectives were identified: an emphasis on sentence meaning, an emphasis on word meaning, an emphasis on both elements, and a rejection of both elements. These differing viewpoints on each issue highlighted the contradictions present in contemporary discussions on language and reality. As for Thao’s concept of the origin of language, this concept suggested that language emerged as part of human evolution, influenced by interactions with social and environmental circumstances within a materialist dialectic framework. This process initially occurred before the emergence of consciousness, which then arose from the use of the first signs. Thao’s conception offered a holistic view on the conditions of linguistic signification, asserting that interaction with social and environmental contexts is a necessary condition for language, and thus, signification depends on both internal and external factors. Additionally, Thao’s view presented an evolutionary perspective on language, positing that the meanings of words and sentences evolved due to specific conditions and purposes, with both words and sentences possessing their own significative power. Critical reflection on contemporary debates on language and reality, through Thao’s conception, suggested a new alternative approach: reconciling different opinions within a holistic framework that demonstrates the coevolution of language, humans, and the physical world.