Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
ZENODOarrow_drop_down
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
addClaim

From the Linguistic Turn to the Probabilistic Turn: Ontological Conditions of Meaning, Normative Sedimentation, and the Dual Status of Artificial Intelligence

Authors: Rosiñol Lorenzo, José;

From the Linguistic Turn to the Probabilistic Turn: Ontological Conditions of Meaning, Normative Sedimentation, and the Dual Status of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This paper develops the thesis of a probabilistic turn in contemporary philosophy and social theory. While the linguistic turn established language as the fundamental mediation of social reality and transformed our understanding of collective dynamics, knowledge, and action, recent developments in artificial intelligence reveal that it is possible to produce socially recognisable forms of meaning without lived semantics or intentional comprehension, operating exclusively on probabilistic regularities of use. This finding compels a philosophical displacement: from the question of what meaning is to the question of what conditions make something count as meaning within a social world. The article argues—on the ontological plane, with consequences for empirical research and social theory—that social reality is grounded in plausibility equilibria: inferential and institutional structures that stabilise expectations and coordinate action through dynamics which, analysed at their deep structure, reveal probabilistic patterns. However, it contends that genuine normativity—obligation, justification, responsibility—cannot be derived from such stabilisation. To account for this limit, the concept of a normative exterior is introduced, understood not as a transcendent instance but as the active residue of historical sedimentations that enter into dynamic tension with new plausibility equilibria. Artificial intelligence occupies a dual status within this framework: as an epistemological revealer of structures that have always operated in the production of meaning, and as a historically unprecedented disruptive factor capable of accelerating, challenging, hybridising, cementing, or opening new normative configurations.

Keywords

Probabilistic turn, Algorithmic mediation, Artificial intelligence, Ontology of meaning, Normative exterior, Plausibility equilibrium, Normativity

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    0
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Related to Research communities
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!