Review of The Philosophy of Theoretical Linguistics: A Contemporary Outlook by Ryan M. Nefdt (2024) [Book Review]
Abstract
The author, Nefdt (hereafter N), identifies as his target audience “advanced students of either philosophy or linguistics and experienced practitioners at the intersection between these fields” (p. x). N’s “goal is to provide not only a songbird’s-eye view of the interconnections between different subdisciplines and frameworks of linguistic theory but to showcase common problems and present novel analyses of the study of language that only a contemporary philosophical overview can offer” (p. ix). The book has xi + 231 pages, beginning with a short preface, and has an index. It is divided into eight main chapters, each addressing a different subfield or area, and a two-page concluding chapter. N says that “Each chapter can be considered a sustained, self-contained argument based on the subfield at hand” (p. ix). Each includes a helpful ‘Further Reading’ section with plentiful annotation.