Philosophy Of Language

Generative Oscillation - A Cognitive Model for the Emergence of Language

by Thorold (Thor) May

Research Material for a discontinued PhD

DRAFT COPY ONLY

NOT READY FOR PRINT PUBLICATION

The GO model proposes a co-generative view of the emergence of language. Most conventional linguistics models conceive... more The GO model proposes a co-generative view of the emergence of language. Most conventional linguistics models conceive of language as a representational system of symbols which refer to events, either mental or external to the organism. This representational function is said to motivate the linguistic system and (depending upon the linguistic model) largely control its form. The GO (Generative Oscillation) model proposed here recognizes the representational role of language. However it notes that as the mental linguistic system itself becomes efficiently organized, it creates an internal logic and drive of its own. To some extent this internally motivated linguistic system is conceived to override the external motivation to represent another reality. Since the internal linguistic system is dynamic and generative, it may give rise to linguistic output which seems strange in an inter-human communicative context (or even within the reflective mind of the creator). Thus while the external communicative context can become a constraint on unmotivated non-representational "internal language", it might not eliminate it. The Generative Oscillation model proposes that actual language production is an oscillating compromise between the representational function of language and the mental "language bot" itself (i.e. an internal self-organizing system) which is generating language strings just because that is what language language bots do. As far as I know, the Generative Oscillation Model, or anything like it, had not been suggested before in linguistics at the time of writing. Some conventional linguists may find it a bit "off the wall".

The Word/Image Dualism Revisited: Towards an Iconic Conception of Visual Culture

by Dominik Bartmanski

published in Journal of Sociology, 2012

Is there any difference between the widely discussed ‘pictorial turn’ and the emerging ‘iconic turn’? If so, does it... more Is there any difference between the widely discussed ‘pictorial turn’ and the emerging ‘iconic turn’? If so, does it matter? The answers to these questions are positive if we look at the problem from a cultural sociological point of view. It has been observed that the concept of the ‘iconic turn’, coined by a German philosopher Gottfried Boehm, may capture more effectively the sense of life attributed to visual objects than W.J.T. Mitchell’s famous ‘pictorial turn’. This article endorses this conjecture and provides a theoretical context for its justification. It thus contributes to the emerging debate about the paradigm shift in studies of visual culture.

Apontamento Histórico. Pedro Hispano e o Tractatus.

by António de Freitas

Dil, Anlamlandırma ve Yorumlama Üzerine Bir Deneme

by Ilyas Altuner

Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy, 2(1), 2012

Bizim bu yazıda bahsetmeye çalıştığımız konu, daha çok metaontolojik ya da metafizik alan üzerinde yoğunlaşacaktır.... more Bizim bu yazıda bahsetmeye çalıştığımız konu, daha çok metaontolojik ya da metafizik alan üzerinde yoğunlaşacaktır. Nesnelerin kendinde varlığını bilemesek bile, en azından, dile gelmeyen bir şeylerden bahsediyoruz. Öyleyse bilemediğimiz alana ait yargılarımızın, bildiğimiz olgular alanıyla ilişkisi dolayısıyla az çok yorumlanabileceğini göz ardı etmememiz gerekir. Kendinde dünyanın yani numenin anlamını somut dünya tasarımıyla elde etmeye çabalamanın boşuna olacağı kesindir. Ancak bu durum, numen dünyasının araştırılmaması ve kendinde varlık alanının ne olduğu konusunda düşünmeye son verilmesi gerektiği manasını taşımaz. Çünkü somut dünya tasarımımızda sürekli değişen ve her değiştiğinde de anlamını değiştiren bir durum söz konusudur.

The Relation between Language and Thought according to Hegel

by Hector Ferreiro

Slightly re-elaborated english version of the article “La relación entre lenguaje y pensamiento en el Sistema hegeliano”, published in Oliva Mendoza, Carlos (ed.), Hegel: Ciencia, Experiencia y Fenomenología, Ediciones de la Facultad deFilosofía y Letras de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 2010, 21-33. (I read this paper at the "Workshop Kant-Fichte-Hegel", Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University, Belgium, June 24, 2011)

La relación entre lenguaje y pensamiento en el Sistema hegeliano

by Hector Ferreiro

En: Oliva Mendoza, Carlos (ed.), Hegel: Ciencia, Experiencia y Fenomenología, Ediciones de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 2010, 21-33.

Abrahamic Religions and Non-Cyclical Time: Some Philosophical Reflections (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

"Las religiones del Libro y el problema del tiempo," Isidorianum 30 (2006) 187-204.

The Stoic Anomaly: An Inquiry into Some Possible Semitic Components in Stoic Logic and Physics (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

"La anomalía estoica: En torno a los posibles componentes semíticos de la lógica y la física estoicas," Paideia 89 (2010) 295-307.

1. Introducción
2. La anomalía lingüístico-temporal (sobre la relativa indistinción del presente y el futuro en... more 1. Introducción
2. La anomalía lingüístico-temporal (sobre la relativa indistinción del presente y el futuro en el estoicismo)
3. La anomalía ontológica (sobre la supresión del verbo "ser" en la física estoica)
4. La anomalía lógica (sobre la supresión de la cópula verbal en la lógica estoica)
5. A modo de conclusión

The Stoic Anomaly: An Inquiry into Some Possible Semitic Components in Stoic Logic and Physics (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

"La anomalía estoica: En torno a los posibles componentes semíticos de la lógica y la física estoicas," Paideia 89 (2010) 295-307.

1. Introducción
2. La anomalía lingüístico-temporal (sobre la relativa indistinción del presente y el futuro en... more 1. Introducción
2. La anomalía lingüístico-temporal (sobre la relativa indistinción del presente y el futuro en el estoicismo)
3. La anomalía ontológica (sobre la supresión del verbo "ser" en la física estoica)
4. La anomalía lógica (sobre la supresión de la cópula verbal en la lógica estoica)
5. A modo de conclusión

On the Asymetrical Development of Some Common Semitic and Indo-European Lexemes and Its Eventual Incidence upon the Bible and the Qur'an (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

"El Mismo y el Otro: La evolución asimétrica de algunos lexemas propios de las lenguas semíticas e indoeuropeas y su incidencia en la revelación bíblica y coránica," Límite 2.15 (2007) 21-37.

Distributed language: implications for volition

by Stephen J. Cowley

The attached paper is a draft for a Russian volume that explored new perspectives on language. It was translated and appeared in Russian as:
С. Дж. Коули. Понятие распределенности языка и его значение для волеизъявления // А.В.Кравченко (ред.). Наука о языке в изменяющейся парадигме знания (Studia linguistica cognitiva 2). Иркутск: БГУЭП, 2009. С. 192-227.

It can be cited as:
Cowley, S. J. (2009). Distributed language: implications for volition. (In Russian). In A, Kravchenko (ed.) New Perspectives on Language and Cognition, pp. 192-227, Irkutsk: Baikal University Press.

Most post-Cartesian views trace human agency to the organism and are thus obliged to either leave aside questions of... more Most post-Cartesian views trace human agency to the organism and are thus obliged to either leave aside questions of volition or, worse, seek explanations in the individual brain. By contrast, when language is recognised as distributed, human cognition is seen to arise as we adapt to life in a collective world. Since language is embodied AND non-local, learning emerges under dual or multiple control –babies learn to talk by participating in “distributed cognitive systems.” In relation to human volition, this opens a gap between tracing actions and feelings to a single brain and privileging the person ‘level’. Although behaviour emerges as people deal with circumstances together, language gives some control over what is not said or done. By focusing on the possible (and what we imagine), we can use the real duration associated with verbal and other thoughts. In short, it is because language is embodied and conventional that we can modulate action/perception: this enables individual organisms to act as living subjects who exert a degree of control over what they – and others – say and do.

Misyurov D.A. Dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas // Credo New. 2012. №2

by Dmitry Misyurov

The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with... more The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with dominant and the non-dominant elements; universal formula; formula with symbolic weight of elements; tautological formula. For example, it suggests an opportunity to use the dialectical formulas for modeling and artificial intelligence creation, etc.

"Having Difficulty with Identity", Teoria. Revista filosofia (translated also in Italian)

by Colin SCHMIDT

SCHMIDT C.T.A. (2007), « Qualche problema con la nozione di identità », Teoria. Revista filosofia, vol. XXVII/2207/2,... more SCHMIDT C.T.A. (2007), « Qualche problema con la nozione di identità », Teoria. Revista filosofia, vol. XXVII/2207/2, Edizioni ETS, Pisa.

Müssen wir erkennen, was wir denken? – Die semiotische Seele bei Ockham

by Martin Lenz

Forthcoming in: Abschied vom Seelischen? Ed. by Hans-Ulrich Rüegger, Zürich: vdf Hochschulverlag 2012

Locke as a Social Externalist

by Martin Lenz

Draft; forthcoming (with a commentary by Michael Ayers) in the Dawes Hicks Lectures on Philosophy: Proceedings of the British Academy,Oxford: Oxford University Press 2012

What determines the meaning of linguistic expressions: the mental states of language users or external factors? John... more What determines the meaning of linguistic expressions: the mental states of language users or external factors? John Locke is still taken to hold the simple thesis that words primarily signify the ideas in the mind of the speaker and thus to commit himself to an untenable mentalism. The present paper challenges this widespread view and sketches an argument to the effect that Locke should be seen as defending a kind of social externalism, since, for Locke, it is primarily the speech community that plays the essential role in determining meaning. 

Sind nur sprachfähige Wesen rational? - Über die Grenzen des "Raums der Gründe"

by Martin Lenz

Forthcoming in: Crossing Borders: Proceedings of the 9th Congress of the Austrian Society of Philosophy 2012

The Limits of Silence: Descartes, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein on Philosophy and Ordinary Language

by Narve Strand

In "Descartes and Cartesianism", Smith, N. D. & Taylor, J. (eds.) (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2005), pp. 133-59

Regulating Homophobic Hate Speech

by Andy Harvey

Version 1 of article due for publication in Sexualities Journal sometime in 2011/2

There has been an explosion of hate crime legislation introduced by the Labour Government since 1997. This paper takes... more There has been an explosion of hate crime legislation introduced by the Labour Government since 1997. This paper takes the most recent instance of incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation as its starting point. I discuss the legislation in the context of debates around free speech and artistic autonomy. Making use of post-stucturalist, psychoanalytic and discourse theories I argue that there are conceptual and practical difficulties attached to the regulation of hate speech if analysed through a politics of subversive repetition. I conclude that a better approach is to think about language as reciprocal communication and to develop a politics of sustained engagement with society that ultimately adopts a more voluntary approach to changing popular uses of language.

Regulating Homophobic Hate Speech

by Andy Harvey

This is a short version of my paper and was delivered to the Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference in Brighton on 13th April 2011

Review of Jason Stanley's "Know How"

by Dr. J. Adam Carter

(review forthcoming in the International Journal of Philosophical Studies)