J.L. Austin thought that usage provides clues that could help us unsnarl philosophical problems, including the thorny problems involving the mind. Austin thought that philosophers should pay attention to the usage of any natural language.
Consider diakrino, an example from ancient Greek. English speakers are used to active and passive voices. Greek has a third‚ the middle voice, for actions that one does for oneself or one’s own benefit.
Diakrino is an interesting case showing the workings of grammar on a concept. In the active voice, it means to make a distinction or to differentiate. In the passive voice, it means a judgment, a distinction made for or about you by others. In the middle voice — all these distinctions being made in your own head — it means to dispute or argue. And, if you’re arguing with yourself, you can be talking about doubt.
In our society, doubt — what a person doubts and why — often is a question of psychology; an inquiry might be handled with the tools of psychological analysis.
In the account of diakrino, there’s no psychology in the modern sense of the word. The road to doubt, as described above, is just a question of how language was once used.
I can’t help thinking of Seneca’s aphorism: “The doubting pleases me as much as knowing.”
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