kontekstaalaiset

Kontekstaalaiset is a Finnish term used to describe a cohort of researchers and a theoretical orientation within linguistics, philosophy of language, and cognitive science that emphasizes the role of context in language and knowledge. The label denotes a program or approach rather than a fixed school, united by a commitment to contextualism: the view that the meaning of utterances, the content of propositions, and the validity of knowledge claims depend on factors such as speaker intention, conversational context, social setting, and empirical background.

Core ideas of the Kontekstaalaiset claim that context is not a mere backdrop but a determinant of linguistic interpretation. Meaning and reference are considered to shift with situational factors, and truth-conditions are seen as partly dependent on discourse context. In this view, ordinary language meaning emerges from concrete uses in specific situations, rather than from context-free definitions.

Origins of the movement trace to academic discussions in Finnish universities in the late 1990s and 2000s, spreading across disciplines and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration. Researchers associated with Kontekstaalaiset engage in theoretical work, discourse analysis, pragmatics, and experimental philosophy or linguistics, often publishing in Finnish and international venues and organizing seminars and conferences.

The movement has influenced approaches to semantics, pragmatics, epistemology, and cognitive science by foregrounding contextual factors in interpretation and justification. Critics ask for clearer criteria for what constitutes relevant context and worry about potential vagueness or difficulties in replicability. Regardless, Kontekstaalaiset represents a notable Finnish strand that highlights the interplay between language, knowledge, and situational context.