Language and social reality: an approach from the philosophy of language

Abstract

In the post-pandemic social context, it is often asserted, with particular vehemence, that language constructs reality. Since the last century, the philosophy of language has explored the epistemological and ontological foundations of that premise in contrast to the thesis that language is a mere reflection of reality.

It is commonly forgotten that reality is a multilayered concept that can be applied to the general notion of what is real or to specific realities such as the human experience or social constructs. What I claim to be depends on what is said about humanity, what is considered real, and how language, through which I express myself, is conceived.

Therefore, to address the philosophical questions of language, its role in social transformation, and whether such transfor- mation is genuinely possible, we must position ourselves intellectually: either emphasizing the static or emphasizing the dynamic.