Naturalizating Morality. From Alethic to Deontic and Axiological Values: The Case of Tocar, a Colombian Spanish Verb

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22370/rhv2022iss20pp77-99

Keywords:

morality, language, cognitive semantics, deontic and axiological modality, Spanish verb “tocar”, periphrasis

Abstract

Great thinkers have devoted to explaining morality and ethics in human beings. The major reflections have resulted in a well-known dichotomy, that of matters of fact and matters of value, or what is known as the theoretical world, which is objective, and the practical world, that of affections. With the birth of analytic philosophy, the emphasis is placed on language allowing to explain philosophical problems, such as validity. This study proposes the following thesis: it is possible to derive “ought” from “is”, as it is evidenced in the Spanish verb “tocar” and several of its verbal periphrasis. To achieve this, a naturalization of morality is proposed from the postulates of two theories, namely, cognitive semantics (Talmy 2000) and the Modular Theory of Modalities (Gosselin 2010). The methodology applied consists of both a semantic and a cognitive analysis of “tocar”, for which a corpus was collected in literary texts and presidential speeches. The main result shows that “tocar” has a prototypical descriptive semantic value, alethic value, and new prescriptive semantic values. It is concluded that the new semantic values for this verb and its periphrasis are the deontic and the axiological ones, which demonstrates once again the evolutionary character of language and the need to provide empirical information on philosophical issues, such as morality.

Author Biographies

Laura Niño Buitrago, Autonoma University of Manizalez

PhD Student at Autonomous University of Manizales

Mercedes Suárez, Autonoma University of Manizalez

Coordinator of the PhD. Program in Cognitive Sciences

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Published

2022-12-01 — Updated on 2022-12-02

How to Cite

Restrepo Rodas, J., Niño Buitrago, L. ., & Suárez, M. . . (2022). Naturalizating Morality. From Alethic to Deontic and Axiological Values: The Case of Tocar, a Colombian Spanish Verb. Revista De Humanidades De Valparaíso, (20), 77–99. https://doi.org/10.22370/rhv2022iss20pp77-99

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