Gilbert Ryle Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle , on the other hand, took a more ambitious line in the application of conceptual analysis. The solution in each case is to substitute a less misleading statement, and this is the proper function of philosophy. The only way to speak about my supposedly private mental life is by drawing analogies to physical processes. But this Ryle argued, is like meeting Uncle Joe and Grandma and Mom while wondering where the family really is. Resolution of our conceptual difficulties in this regard, he supposed, lies not in the reduction of mental predicates to material ones, but rather a simple recognition that statements about perception, memory, belief, and other mental states are nothing more significant than a series of short-hand ways of describing human behavior of identifiable sorts.
Cartesian dualism is an elaborate myth.
Although less confident about the prospects of philosophical progress, J. L. Austin placed his emphasis even more exclusively on ordinary language. The very observation of linguistic behavior is itself a worthwhile activity, Austin believed, especially with regard to practical matters. We should usually assume that ordinary language embodies all of the practical distinctions that will prove useful in human life. The philosopher's role is to clarify by investigating and cataloging the most commonly employed grammatical constructions. The key distinction, he supposed, is between a justification, which denies that the performed action was wrong, and an exuse, which instead denies that the agent was responsible for performing it.