It is theoretically possible that structural ambiguity could be filtered out of natural languages. In (3)-(8) unambiguous paraphrases in English were given; perhaps structurally unambiguous paraphrases in English are always available. But it is unclear whether precise rules could be given which would effect this filtering. One can see why logicians might prefer artificial languages: they are constructed from the ground up in such a way that structural ambiguity is impossible.

The question remains open whether such a result could be achieved merely by tinkering with a natural language, or whether it requires starting from scratch. The idea of starting from scratch, constructing an artificial language constrained only by the demands of logic, has inspired a philosophical tradition (though one whose merits are nowadays being questioned). Russell, for example, coined the expression "philosophical logic" to represent his view that the workings of natural language, and of our thought, could be adequately represented only by an artificial language, the language of his Principia Mathematica.

Artificial language

Meaning

Noun