Language as sign and use a study of certain aspects of Saussure's view of language
pp. 77-95
in: Martin Gustafsson, Lars Hertzberg (eds), The practice of language, Berlin, Springer, 2002Abstract
The aim of Saussure's theory of language is to provide a new and more accurate explanation of the essential nature of language. According to Saussure, traditional theories of language have been on the wrong track with regard to "the nature question" in particular; yet this motivation is also the source of the conceptual difficulties connected with his theory. These difficulties are similar in kind to the views of language that he criticizes. The difficulties arise within the vast tradition in which the discussion of the nature of language is pivotal, and they arise as soon as the question is posed. The difficulties, one might say, are related to the posing of the question as such.
