Philosophy of language Books

Book SynopsisIn a single volume, the seminal writings of the world's leading philosopher, linguist and critic, and author of the bestselling Who Rules the World‘The general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know’ Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky's writings on politics and language have established him as one of the most original and wide-ranging political and social critics of our time, and as perhaps the leading dissident voice in the United States.The Essential Chomsky brings together selections from his most important writings, from his groundbreaking critique of B.F. Skinner to his bestselling works Hegemony or Survival and Failed States, concerning subjects ranging from critiques of corporate media and U.S. interventionism to intellectual freedom and the political economy of human rights. Featuring a collection of twenty-five pieces of writing spanning six decades, this is an unparalleled and comprehensive overview of Chomsky's thought.‘Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive’ New York TimesTrade ReviewChomsky ranks with Marx, Shakespeare, and the Bible as one of the ten most quoted sources in the humanities-and is the only writer among them still alive. * Guardian *Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive. * New York Times *Noam Chomsky is one of the most significant challengers of unjust power and delusions; he goes against every assumption about American altruism and humanitarianism. -- Edward SaidNot to have read [Chomsky] is to court genuine ignorance. * Nation *A rebel without a pause. -- Bono

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Book SynopsisAlthough the two volumes of Logic, Language, and Meaning can be used independently of one another, together they provide a comprehensive overview of modern logic as it is used as a tool in the analysis of natural language. Both volumes provide exercises and their solutions. Volume 1, Introduction to Logic, begins with a historical overview and then offers a thorough introduction to standard propositional and first-order predicate logic. It provides both a syntactic and a semantic approach to inference and validity, and discusses their relationship. Although language and meaning receive special attention, this introduction is also accessible to those with a more general interest in logic. In addition, the volume contains a survey of such topics as definite descriptions, restricted quantification, second-order logic, and many-valued logic. The pragmatic approach to non-truthconditional and conventional implicatures are also discussed. Finally, the relation between logic and formal syntax

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Book SynopsisOpening the door for beginners who seek a thorough grounding in the first arts of human understanding, this book explains the nature of logic, grammar, and rhetoric -- the three of the seven liberal arts -- and how they relate to one another. In Renaissance universities, the trivium (literally, the crossing of three part way) formed the essence of the liberal arts curriculum. Examined are topics such as the nature and function of language, distinguishing general grammar from special grammar, the study of logic and its relationship to grammar and rhetoric, and applying the concepts of logic, grammar, and rhetoric to literary works.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook/software package covers first-order language in a method appropriate for a wide range of courses, from first logic courses for undergraduates (philosophy, mathematics, and computer science) to a first graduate logic course. The accompanying online grading service instantly grades solutions to hundreds of computer exercises. The second edition of "Language, Proof and Logic" represents a major expansion and revision of the original package and includes applications for mobile devices, additional exercises, a dedicated website, and increased software compatibility and support.

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Book Synopsis'Naming and Necessity' has had a great and increasing influence. It redirected philosophical attention to neglected questions of natural and metaphysical necessity and to the connections between these and theories of naming, and of identity.Trade Review"Brilliant and very influential . . . stands up as an impressive and enduring work of philosophy, outstanding in its sweep, clarity and penetration."—Colin McGinn, Times Higher Education Supplement "When these lectures were first published eight years ago, they stood analytic philosophy on its ear. Everybody was either furious, or exhilarated, or thoroughly perplexed. No one was indifferent. This welcome republication provides a chance to look back at a modern classic, and to say something about why it was found so shocking and liberating."—Richard Rorty, London Review of BooksTable of ContentsPreface. Lecture I. Lecture II. Lecture III. Addenda.

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Book SynopsisIn a new retelling of the romantic rationalist adventure of ideas that is Hegel’s classic The Phenomenology of Spirit, Robert Brandom argues that when our self-conscious recognitive attitudes take Hegel’s radical form of magnanimity and trust, we can overcome a troubled modernity and enter a new age of spirit.Trade Review[A] masterpiece. -- Slavoj Žižek * Philosophy Now *Displays the swashbuckling speculation and hermeneutical ingenuity of the best continental philosophy together with the rigor of the best analytic work…[An] astonishing book. Brandom develops fundamentally original positions with implications for everything from narrative theory to the free will problem to the nature of the political state. -- Crispin Sartwell * Los Angeles Review of Books *Must now count as Brandom's most significant contribution to contemporary philosophy…[An] impressive book. -- Stephen Houlgate * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *This long-awaited book has been thirty years in the making. Brandom’s A Spirit of Trust aspires to do for Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit what Strawson’s The Bounds of Sense did for Kant’s The Critique of Pure Reason: to transpose a seminal work of German Idealism into the terminological idiom and argumentative key of anglophone analytic philosophy—not only to render a past classic newly available to the present, but to transform the philosophical present through such a re-inheritance of its past. -- James Conant, University of ChicagoA Spirit of Trust will be the book that finally moves analytic philosophy from its Kantian phase to its Hegelian phase. Brandom has succeeded in bridging both the history–systematic and the continental–analytic divides in contemporary philosophy. To say that this book is highly anticipated would be a gross understatement. -- Dean Moyar, Johns Hopkins UniversityBrandom’s goal is to make Hegel explicable to a new audience, to make the importance of his philosophy plain and to further develop his own impressive body of work. He has succeeded, and his success throws up fascinating questions for both American philosophy and critical theory. -- J. D. Evans * Marx and Philosophy Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThis short treatise looks at how we construct a social reality from our sense impressions; at how, for example, we construct a five-pound note with all that implies in terms of value and social meaning, from the printed piece of paper we see and touch.Table of ContentsThe building blocks of social reality; creating institutional facts; language and social reality; the general theory of institutional facts part I - iteration, interaction, and logical structure; the general theory of institutional facts part II - creation, maintenance, and the hierarchy; background abilities and the explanation of social phenomena; does the real world exist? part I - attacks on realism; does the real world exist? part II - could there be a proof of external realism?; truth and correspondence.

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Book Synopsis''Dazzling... Pinker''s big idea is that language is an instinct...as innate to us as flying is to geese... Words can hardly do justice to the superlative range and liveliness of Pinker''s investigations''- Independent''A marvellously readable book... illuminates every facet of human language: its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects'' - Nature

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringOur ability to find meaning in things is one of the most important aspects of human life. But it is also one of the most mysterious. Where does meaning come from? What sorts of things have meaning? And how do we grasp the meaning others want to convey? This Very Short Introduction is shaped by exploring possible answers to these questions.Human societies have one particularly important device for expressing and sharing meaning: language. Since our words are paradigm examples of things which have meaning, in this book, Emma Borg and Sarah Fisher use meaning in language as a case study for exploring meaning more generally. They focus on three possible sources for word meaning: things in the world, things in the mind, and social practices, exploring the key approaches thinkers have put forward in each of these arenas. Finally, they end by looking at some concrete applications of the ideas and approaches introduced in the book.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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Book SynopsisPeter Adamson presents a lively introduction to six hundred years of European philosophy, from the beginning of the ninth century to the end of the fourteenth century. The medieval period is one of the richest in the history of philosophy, yet one of the least widely known. Adamson introduces us to some of the greatest thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition, including Peter Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Roger Bacon. And the medieval period was notable for the emergence of great women thinkers, including Hildegard of Bingen, Marguerite Porete, and Julian of Norwich. Original ideas and arguments were developed in every branch of philosophy during this period - not just philosophy of religion and theology, but metaphysics, philosophy of logic and language, moral and political theory, psychology, and the foundations of mathematics and natural science.Trade ReviewAccessible and comprehensive. * Alban McCoy, The Tablet, Books of the Year 2019 *Peter Adamson's Medieval Philosophy gives fantastically compendious account of medieval philosophy. Adamson manages to be accessible, lucid, witty, incisive; luminously conveying the rambunctious ambivalences of the logic-chopping, devout, doubting, bawdy, bloodthirsty, mystical medievals. * Jane O'Grady, The Tablet *a volume that— despite its weight and heft—one could easily give to a non-philosopher as a first introduction to the field. For even the most obscure authors (such as that most prolific of medieval philosophers, Anon) and the most arcane of topics comes to life under Adamson's magic touch. But what is most impressive about the book is its sheer scope of knowledge. . . . If you want a good, light-touch, yet still not glossing over the difficulties, introduction to medieval philosophy, this is the book for you. * Sara L. Uckelman, Philosophical Quarterly *Adamson's history of medieval philosophy has, among its many merits, two great ones. First, is very clearly written and philosophically acute. . . .A second merit is that it proposes an updated interpretation of medieval philosophy, obtained by taking into account the most dominant trends present in literature. This makes Peter Adamson's volume a fine piece of work and a recommended volume. The history of medieval philosophy is investigated in its depth and full development, no significant gap can be found indeed in the proposed reconstruction. * Fabrizio Amerini, Philosophical Inquiries *Let me say at once on the evidence of this volume, [Adamson] succeeds brilliantly. Over some 78 sections he covers a huge range of figures ... Special attention is given - and rightly so - to female philosophers, such as Catherine of Siena ... This book (and the others in the series), which are a delight to read, will be of great interest to general readers, aside from students of culture. * Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic *Adamson writes with a light style, beginning each short chapter with an anecdote, which rewards both sticking with the long narrative and dipping in and out. * Nick Mattiske, Journey, Isolation Reading Recommendations *A staggering philosophical achievement ... the clarity of the animated text is further enhanced by the authors humour, bringing a light touch to complex matters ... This volume will surely attain classic status, and can be read either sequentially or consulted as a detailed encyclopaedia of mediaeval philosophy and its variegated personalities. * Paradigm Explorer *Table of ContentsPreface Early Medieval Philosophy 1: Arts of Darkness: Introduction to Medieval Philosophy 2: Charles in Charge: Alcuin and the Carolingian Period 3: Grace Notes: Eriugena and the Predestination Controversy 4: Much Ado About Nothing: Eriugena's Periphyseon 5: Philosophers Anonymous: The Roots of Scholasticism 6: Virgin Territory: Peter Damian on Changing the Past 7: A Canterbury Tale: Anselm's Life and Works 8: Somebody's Perfect: Anselm's Ontological Argument 9: All or Nothing: The Problem of Universals 10: Get Thee to a Nunnery: Heloise and Abelard 11: It's the Thought that Counts: Abelard's Ethics 12: Learn Everything: The Victorines 13: Like Father, Like Son: Debates over the Trinity 14: On the Shoulders of Giants: Philosophy at Chartres 15: The Good Book: Philosophy of Nature 16: One of a Kind: Gilbert of Poitiers on Individuation 17: Two Swords: Early Medieval Political Philosophy 18: Law and Order: Peter Lombard and Gratian 19: Leading Light: Hildegard of Bingen 20: Rediscovery Channel: Translations into Latin 21: Straw Men: The Rise of the Universities The Thirteenth Century 22: No Uncertain Terms: Thirteenth Century Logic 23: Full of Potential: Thirteenth Century Physics 24: Stayin' Alive: Thirteenth Century Psychology 25: It's All Good: The Transcendentals 26: Do the Right Thing: Thirteenth Century Ethics 27: A Light That Never Goes Out: Robert Grosseteste 28: Origin of Species: Roger Bacon 29: Stairway to Heaven: Bonaventure 30: Your Attention Please: Peter Olivi 31: None for Me, Thanks: Franciscan Poverty 32: Begin the Beguine: Hadewijch and Mechtild 33: Binding Arbitration: Robert Kilwardby 34: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Albert the Great's Natural Philosophy 35: The Shadow Knows: Albert the Great's Metaphysics 36: The Ox Heard Round the World: Thomas Aquinas 37: Everybody Needs Some Body: Aquinas on Soul and Knowledge 38: What Comes Naturally: Ethics in Albert and Aquinas 39: What Pleases the Prince: The Rule of Law 40: Onward Christian Soldiers: Just War Theory 41: Paris When it Sizzles: The Condemnations 42: Masters of the University:

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Book SynopsisVagueness is the study of concepts that admit borderline cases. The epistemology of vagueness concerns attitudes we should have towards propositions we know to be borderline. On this basis Andrew Bacon develops a new theory of vagueness in which vagueness is fundamentally a property of propositions, explicated in terms of its role in thought.Trade ReviewThough I find Bacon's view of vagueness impossible to accept, I still think this is a terrific book. Bacon has a wonderful sense for which issues are substantive and which merely superficial, and in focusing our attention on Rational Supervenience and Indifference, he has opened up some genuinely new questions. In addition to the main line of thought sketched above, the book contains illuminating treatments of many connected topics (for example, the connections between necessity and determinacy). It will richly reward anyone with an interest in its subject. * John MacFarlane, Philosophical Review *This is a remarkable book. I accept its main thesis, that propositional vagueness is more fundamental than sentential vagueness. I am in favor of treating vague beliefs in probabilistic terms, and the investigation of how we should reason with vague beliefs and vague desires is a valuable project. There has been relatively little work on this, and Bacon's book goes much further than any before. The idea of using Jeffrey conditioning to explain the impact of vague beliefs is an excellent one. * Dorothy Edgington, Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsPart I: Background 1: Non-Classical and Nihilistic Approaches 2: Classical Approaches: An Overview of the Current Debate 3: An Outline of a Theory of Propositional Vagueness Part II: Epistemological Matters 4: Vagueness and Language 5: Vagueness and Ignorance 6: Vagueness and Evidence 7: Probabilism, Assertion and Higher-order Vagueness 8: Vagueness and Uncertainty 9: Vagueness and Decision 10: Vagueness and Desire Part III: Logical Matters 11: Vague Propositions 12: Vagueness and Precision 13: Symmetry Semantics 14: Vagueness and the World 15: Vagueness and Modality 16: Vague Objects 17: Beyond Vagueness 18: Appendices

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Book SynopsisTim Button explores the relationship between words and world; between semantics and scepticism. A certain kind of philosopherthe external realistworries that appearances might be radically deceptive; we might all, for example, be brains in vats, stimulated by an infernal machine. But anyone who entertains the possibility of radical deception must also entertain a further worry: that all of our thoughts are totally contentless. That worry is just incoherent. We cannot, then, be external realists, who worry about the possibility of radical deception. Equally, though, we cannot be internal realists, who reject all possibility of deception. We must position ourselves somewhere between internal realism and external realism, but we cannot hope to say exactly where. We must be realists, for what that is worth, and realists within limits. In establishing these claims, Button critically explores and develops several themes from Hilary Putnam''s work: the model-theoretic arguments; the connectioTrade ReviewButton has written a conceptually rich, argumentatively deep, and clearly argued book on some of the deepest and most puzzling problems in metaphysics. I am confident that it will find the large number of readers it doubtlessly deserves. * Jan Westerhoff, Mind *Table of ContentsA EXTERNAL REALISM; B THE TENACITY OF CARTESIAN ANGST; C DISSECTING BRAINS IN VATS; D REALISM WITHIN LIMITS; APPENDICES

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Book SynopsisEmma Borg examines the relation between semantics (roughly, features of the literal meaning of linguistic items) and pragmatics (features emerging from the context within which such items are being used), and assesses recent answers to the fundamental questions of how and where to draw the divide between the two. In particular, she offers a defence of what is commonly known as ''minimal semantics''. Minimal semantics, as the name suggests, wants to offer a minimal account of the interrelation between semantics and pragmatics. Specifically, it holds that while context can affect literal semantic content in the case of genuine (i.e. lexically or syntactically marked) context-sensitive expressions, this is the limit of pragmatic input to semantic content. On all other occasions where context of utterance appears to affect content, the minimalist claims that what it affects is not literal, semantic content but what the speaker conveys by the use of this literal content--it affects what a sTrade ReviewPursuing Meaning is a must-read for philosophers of language and a very clear guide to the current state of semantics for those interested in the field. * The Philosophical Quarterly *The book is very clearly written and structured, and it is informed not just by the philosophical debate, but also by developments in linguistics and cognitive science. In addition, Borg's configuration of a very messy theoretical landscape is helpful and insightful, and the arguments she presents for her views and against the different alternatives are at least always worth taking seriously. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to all those interested in this core philosophical issue. . . anybody interested in these issues should carefully study the arguments and proposals in this excellent work, which I expect to have a great impact in the field. * Manuel García-Carpintero, Mind *Borg presents her readers with a thoroughly scholarly text. She cites just about everybody who plays her kind of game. In these citings, she gives fair and comprehensive representations of what others say about these matters and does so, generally, in a clear writing style. * Nick Fotion, Analysis *Borg brings order and focus to the debate, responding to a deluge of objections from multiple perspectives. . .Borg writes in an exceptionally clear and often witty style. Pursuing Meaning is lively, full of interesting turns of phrase, and detailed in content. . .Borg addresses questions about the usefulness and underlying plausibility of minimalism head-on, offering positive reasons for being a minimalist. . .Pursuing Meaning has a proactive rather than reactive tone, which helps draw along readers who are initially disinclined to support her position. Given the depth of disagreement over the semantics/pragmatics divide, that, in itself, is a major achievement. * Allyson Mount, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of Contents1. Surveying the Terrain ; 2. Minimal Semantics and Psychological Evidence ; 3. Propositionalism and Some Problem Cases ; 4. Intention-Sensitive Expressions ; 5. Ontological Arguments Against Minimal Word Meanings ; 6. The Methodological Argument Against Minimal Word Meanings ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisOne of the world's science superstars presents a brilliantly illuminating, entertaining and cutting-edge account of how language actually works.

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Book SynopsisRoland Barthes was born in 1915 and studied French literature and classics at the University of Paris. After teaching French at universities in Romania and Egypt, he joined the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, where he devoted himself to research in sociology and lexicology. He was a professor at the College de France until his death in 1980.Trade ReviewLove, here, is a state of the imagination, with the lover desperate to interpret the dire ambiguities inseparable from his role. This is a speculative book, and a melancholy one, an exploration of the idiom of anxiety. Barthes's love is a passion in the old, suffering sense of the word * Observer *May be the most detailed, painstaking anatomy of desire that we are ever likely to see or need again... All readers will find something they recognize in Barthes' recreation of the lover's fevered consciousness: The book is an ecstatic celebration of love and language and...readers interested in either or both...will enjoy savouring its rich and dark delights * Washington Post Book World *Barthes's work, along with that of Wilde and Valéry, gives being an aesthete a good name... Defending the senses, he never betrayed the mind -- Susan Sontag

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Book SynopsisAnalytic philosophy is the leading form of philosophy in the English-speaking world. What explains its continued success? Christoph Schuringa argues that its enduring power can only be understood by examining its social history. Analytic philosophy tends to think of itself as concerned with eternal questions, transcending the changing scenes of history. It thinks of itself as apolitical. This book, however, convincingly shows that the opposite is true.The origins of analytic philosophy are in a set of distinct movements, shaped by high-ly specific sets of political and social forces. Only after the Second World War were these disparate, often dynamic movements joined together to make ‘analytic philosophy’ as we know it. In the climate of McCarthyism, analytic philosophy was robbed of political force.To this day, analytic philosophy is the ideology of the status quo. It may seem arcane and largely removed from the real world, but it is a crucial component in upholding liberalism, through its central role in elite educational institutions. As Schuringa concludes, the apparently increasing friendliness of analytic philosophers to rival approaches in philosophy should be understood as a form of colonization; thanks to its hegemonic status, it reformats all it touches in service of its own imperatives, going so far as to colonize decolonial efforts in the discipline.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPreface Introduction Judith Butler 1. On the Nature and Form of the Essay: A Letter to Leo Popper 2. Platonism, Poetry and Form: Rudolf Kassner 3. The Foundering of Form Against Life: Soren Kierkegaard and Regine Olsen 4. On the Romantic Philosophy of Life: Novalis 5. The Bourgeois Way of Life and Art for Art's Sake: Theodor Storm 6. The New Solitude and Its Poetry: Stefan George 7. Longing and Form: Charles-Louis Philippe 8. The Moment and Form: Richard Beer-Hofmann 9. Richness, Chaos, and Form: A Dialogue Concerning Lawrence Sterne 10. The Metaphysics of Tragedy: Paul Ernst Sources and References On Poverty of Spirit: A Conversation and a Letter Afterword: The Legacy of Form Katie Terezakis Notes Index

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Book SynopsisValla (1407-1457) was the most important theorist of the humanist movement. His most famous work is the present volume, an oration in which Valla uses new philological methods to attack the authenticity of the most important document justifying the papacy's claims to temporal rule.

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Book SynopsisAre there such things as merely possible people, who would have lived if our ancestors had acted differently? Are there future people, who have not yet been conceived? Questions like those raise deep issues about both the nature of being and its logical relations with contingency and change. In Modal Logic as Metaphysics, Timothy Williamson argues for positive answers to those questions on the basis of an integrated approach to the issues, applying the technical resources of modal logic to provide structural cores for metaphysical theories. He rejects the search for a metaphysically neutral logic as futile. The book contains detailed historical discussion of how the metaphysical issues emerged in the twentieth century development of quantified modal logic, through the work of such figures as Rudolf Carnap, Ruth Barcan Marcus, Arthur Prior, and Saul Kripke. It proposes higher-order modal logic as a new setting in which to resolve such metaphysical questions scientifically, by the constrTrade ReviewI am inclined to say that Modal Logic as Metaphysics is the greatest ever integrated study of the logic and the metaphysics of modality: it is almost certainly the most comprehensive. [It] is also, in my judgment, the most important book on the metaphysics of modality since On The Plurality of Worlds. * John Divers, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *a very important addition to the literature... clear, meticulous, and ingenious... This tightly argued book contains a large number of interesting arguments, claims, observations, and comments on a wide variety of topics in modal logic and metaphysics. It reminds us that there is much useful philosophizing to be done beyond an incredulous stare. * Takashi Yagisawa, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *the issues raised by the book are among the most important in current work on modal metaphysics, and I very much hope that all metaphysicians of modality make the effort required to come to terms with its many ideas and arguments. * M. L. Cresswell, The Philosophical Quarterly *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Contingentism and Necessitism ; 2. The Barcan Formula and its Converse: Early Developments ; 3. Possible Worlds Model Theory ; 4. Predication and Modality ; 5. From First-Order to Higher-Order Modal Logic ; 6. Intensional Comprehension Principles and Metaphysics ; 7. Mappings between Contingentist and Necessitist Discourse ; 8. Consequences of necessitism ; Methodological Afterword ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisEver since Darwin, animal behaviour has intrigued and perplexed human observers. The elaborate mating rituals, lavish decorative displays, complex songs, calls, dances and many other forms of animal signalling raise fascinating questions. To what degree can animals communicate within their own species and even between species? What evolutionary purpose do such communications serve? Perhaps most importantly, what can animal signalling tell us about our own non-verbal forms of communication? In The Handicap Principle, Amotz and Ashivag Zahavi offer a unifying theory that brilliantly explains many previously baffling aspects of animal signalling and holds up a mirror in which ordinary human behaviours take on surprising new significance. The wide-ranging implications of the Zahavis'' new theory make it arguably the most important advance in animal behaviour in decades. Based on 20 years of painstaking observation, the Handicap Principle illuminates an astonishing variety of signalling behTrade Review"Among the most revolutionary and controversial concepts in modern behavioral biology is the handicap principle developed by Zahavi. After initially encountering resistance, it has been receiving increased acceptance for its success in explaining an enormous variety of animal behaviors and anatomical structures, from gazelles' seemingly suicidal displays to men's beards. Read this fine book, and discover what the excitement is all about!"--Jared M. Diamond, Professor of Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles"This fascinating, provocative, insightful and controversial book will charm, inform and sometimes infuriate all of those interested in understanding animal and human communication."--Paul Ekman, Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Francisco"By now the Handicap Principle is acknowledged by a growing body of biologists, and by joining their forces Amotz and Avishang Zahavi explain the principle and how it applies to communicative behaviour between organisms...from amebas to humans."--Arne Lundberg, Uppsala University, Sweden"[An] extremely well-written popularization of the authors' scientific work. Covering species as different as tigers and barn swallows, and topics as diverse as parasitism and parental care, the authors apply their theory to many aspects of animal behavior that were difficult to explain previously.... Highly recommended."--Booklist"This book is highly readable yet rigorous enough for specialists. Essential for any academic collection and worthwhile for genearal collections."--Library Journal"The Zahavis write well, with admirable clarity...Very readable book"--Science Books and Films

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Book SynopsisGeoffrey Bennington sets out here to write an account of the thought of Jacques Derrida. Responding to Bennington's text at every turn is Derrida's own, excerpts from his life and thought that resist circumscription. These texts, as a dialogue and a contest, are a critical introduction to Derrida.

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Book SynopsisFirst ever critical study of Tolkien's little-known essay, which reveals how language invention shaped the creation of Middle-earth and beyond, to George R R Martin's Game of Thrones.J.R.R. Tolkien's linguistic invention was a fundamental part of his artistic output, to the extent that later on in life he attributed the existence of his mythology to the desire to give his languages a home and peoples to speak them. As Tolkien puts it in A Secret Vice', the making of language and mythology are related functions'.In the 1930s, Tolkien composed and delivered two lectures, in which he explored these two key elements of his sub-creative methodology. The second of these, the seminal Andrew Lang Lecture for 19389, On Fairy-Stories', which he delivered at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, is well known. But many years before, in 1931, Tolkien gave a talk to a literary society entitled A Hobby for the Home', where he unveiled for the first time to a listening public the art that he had Trade Review‘Anyone who has interest in language, linguistics, storytelling, or simply just fantasy in general should add this to their top shelf’5* Amazon Reviewer ‘An absolute MUST HAVE for any Tolkien fan!’5* Amazon Reviewer

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Book SynopsisWhen Ernest Gellner was his early thirties, he took it upon himself to challenge the prevailing philosophical orthodoxy of the day, Linguistic Philosophy. Finding a powerful ally in Bertrand Russell, who provided the foreword for this book, Gellner embarked on the project that was to put him on the intellectual map. The first determined attempt to state the premises and operational rules of the movement, Words and Things remains philosophy''s most devastating attack on a conventional wisdom to this day.Trade Review'I find myself in very close agreement with Mr. Gellner's doctrines as set forth in this book.' - Bertrand Russell

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Book SynopsisOn 25 October 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The encounter lasted only ten minutes, and did not go well. Almost immediately, rumours started to spread around the world that the two philosophers had come to blows, armed with red-hot pokers. But what really happened? Wittgenstein''s Poker engagingly winds together philosophy, history and biography into a compelling piece of detective work. It ranges from the place of assimilated Jews in fin-de-siècle Vienna, to what happens to memory under stress, to a vivid portrait of Cambridge and its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell (who acted as umpire during the altercation). At the centre of the story stand the philosophers themselves, proud, irascible, larger than life, and spoiling for a fight.''Those ten minutes shook the world of Western philosophy literally to its foundations . . . Edmonds and

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first comprehensive exposition of the work of one of the most important intellectual historians and political theorists writing today. Quentin Skinnera s treatment of political theory as a dimension of political life marks a revolutionary move in the historical as well as the philosophical study of political thought.Trade Review‘Skinner and Palonen between them have explained, more deeply than anyone, the relation between writing the history of political thoughts and thinking about politics in history.’ John Pocock, Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins University ‘Kari Palonen’s impressive knowledge of twentieth-century European historiography creates an appropriately broad canvas for this fine study of the Cambridge contextual historian Quentin Skinner as a political theorist in the grand tradition. Palonen shows to what degree Skinner’s projects belong to the world post Nietzsche and post Wittgenstein, which give priority to “life” and the “lived experience” over theory and scholastic history (or historicism). For the modern homo politicus no longer speaks “ for eternity”, but as a person of his/her own time. It is in this very special sense that context and text belong together: as the ground, and perhaps the only ground, against which human actions now have meaning’. Patricia Springborg, University of SydneyTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction. 1.1. A Revolution in the Study of Political Thought. 1.2. A Political Reading. Chapter 2. History as an Argument. 2.1. Death of Political Philosophy?. 2.2. The Defence of the Historian: Laslett and Pocock. 2.3. The ‘historical’ as a criterion. 2.4. The Politics of History. Chapter 3. Theories as Moves. 3.1. Intelligibility of Politics as Activity. 3.2. The Action Perspective on Political Thought. 3.3. Ideas and Concepts as Moves in Argument. 3.4. Conventions and intentions. 3.5. Legitimation of Action. 3.6. The Innovating Ideologist. 3.7. Linguistic Action and its Legitimation. Chapter 4. The Foundations: a History of Theory Politics. 4.1. Genres of Studying Political Thought. 4.2. Why "Foundations"?. 4.3. The Matrix of Questions. 4.4. Ideologies and Legitimation. 4.5. The Formation of the Concept of the State. 4.6. From the History of Ideas Towards a History of Concepts. 4.7. The Skinnerian Revolution. Chapter 5. Rethinking Political Liberty. 5.1. Liberty as a Contested Concept Par Excellence. 5.2. Revising the Conceptual History of Liberty. 5.3. Liberty of the City-Republics. 5.4. Machiavelli as a Philosopher of Liberty. 5.5. Hobbes on Natural Liberty and the Liberty of Subjects. 5.6. The Neo-roman Theorists: Liberty vs. Dependence. 5.7. Intervention in the Contemporary Debate. 5.8. A Profile on the History and Theory of Liberty. Chapter 6. From Philosophy to Rhetoric. 6.1. The Rise of Rhetoric. 6.2. Rhetorical Philosophy: Wittgenstein and Austin. 6.3. Skinner’s Critique of Philosophy. 6.4. Rhetoric and Philosophy in Hobbes. 6.5. The rhetorical Culture of the Renaissance. 6.6. Rhetoric and the Critique of Philosophy. 6.7. Conceptual Change: from Speech Acts to Rhetoric. 6.8. Skinner and Rhetoric Studies Today. Chapter 7. Quentin Skinner as a Contemporary Thinker. 7.1 The Intellectual Profile. 7.2. A vision of Time. References.

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Book SynopsisThis volume makes available in English leading philosopher, Jacques Derrida's reflections on the individual's relationship with his or her own language.Trade Review"In this elegant and engaging essay, Derrida turns to the subject of Derrida as Algerian Jew and as a dissociated Francophone."—The Front Table"Clearly, Derrida is bravely turning away from decades of structuralist thinking that made even the slightest hint of transcendence into an intellectual taboo."—Substance"Derrida has produced a text which takes philosophy and autobiography into the closest possible proximity; yet the result is something far more significant than the personal reminiscences of a philosopher."—Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsMonolingualism of the other or, The prosthesis of origin Epilogue Notes.

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Table of ContentsFrontmatter -- Table of contents -- List of tables and figures -- Abbreviations used in FG-representations -- 1. Methodological preliminaries -- 2. Some basic concepts of linguistic theory -- 3. Preview of Functional Grammar -- 4. The nuclear predication -- 5. States of Affairs and semantic functions -- 6. On the function and structure of terms -- 7. Term operators -- 8. Non-verbal predicates -- 9. Nuclear, core, and extended predication -- 10. Perspectivizing the State of Affairs: Subject and Object assignment -- 11. Reconsidering the Semantic Function Hierarchy; Raising; Ergativity -- 12. Predication, proposition, clause -- 13. Pragmatic functions -- 14. Expression rules -- 15. The operation of expression rules -- 16. Principles of constituent ordering -- 17. Constituent ordering: problems and complications -- 18. Prosodic features -- Backmatter

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Summing Up: Recommended." * CHOICE *An Alex Ross "Bookshelf" recommendation * The Rest is Noise *"The Hum of the World is a more-than-intriguing read and definitely one that will get you thinking about the role of sound within a cosmic context. . . . Recommended." * Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians *Table of ContentsPrelude Sound and Knowledge The Audiable: An Introduction Some Leitmotifs The Standard of Vision A Philosophy of Listening? Constructive Description Sight, Sound, and Language The Sound of Words Seeing, Saying, and Hearing The Audiable: Variations on a Theme Music in the Air “No Sound without Music” Language and the Human Lord Bacon’s Echoes Ripple Effects: Distant Voices The Infinite Broadcast Immanence Reading Transfigured: St. Augustine To the Life: The Image Moving Pictures Modern Times: The Cartoon The Sound of Meaning Music and the Audiable: A Suite in Three Movements Plato’s Singing School Musical Synesthesia The Music of Language The Soundscape Song Noise and Silence Fish, Flesh, or Fowl Sensory Hybrids “Waiting to Be the Music” Circle Songs Forty-Part Motets The Ether Elemental Media Elemental Fluids Writing the Soundscape Haunting Melodies The Lifelike: The Undead Beyond Words? 1 The Audiable and the Audible Into Silence Enchantments of the Name The Inaudible On Saying “I am” The Shriek Metal Here Comes That Song Again The Mirror of Silence Rhythmic Hearing Media All the Way Down The Auditory Window Cacophony: Dispossession (Beckett) Euphony: Repossession (Beckett) Worldly Dissonance Sounds of Battle: The Civil War Sounds of Battle: World War I Ulysses in Auschwitz Intermezzo Sounding Bodies Pandemonium? Songs of Entropy By Hand Past and Present Consciousness Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisWhy do we love to swear so much? Why do we get so offended when others do it? With wit and insight, philosopher Rebecca Roache seeks answers to these and other puzzling questions about bad language. When someone swears at you, it can sting. Likewise, sometimes there is no better way to make the point you''re making--emphasize, insult, or just plain offend--than to use a swear. What explains the magical power of swearwords? Why are they so good at offending people? To understand swearwords'' power, we need to look beyond the words themselves--beyond the way they sound and what they refer to--and consider more generally what we do when we swear.In this lively and amusing exploration of the various puzzles that surround swearing, philosopher Rebecca Roache argues that what makes swearing offensive is not really the words at all: the offensiveness lies in what we don''t say. The unspoken--and usually unconscious--inferences that speakers and listeners make about each other are key to explaTrade ReviewSwearing is indeed shocking, rude, and fun. It's also puzzling, fascinating, and thought-provoking, as is this marvellous book. * Roger Crisp, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Oxford *With brilliant wit and remarkable skill, Rebecca Roache takes up the linguistic, social, moral, and legal dimensions of swearing. The result is a philosophically sophisticated and highly readable discussion with lots of practical guidance about whether and when we need to watch our mouths. Roache's wise, funny, and thought-provoking book belongs on everyone's shelf. * Karen Stohr, Ryan Family Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy, Georgetown University *Finally a book that rips the fuck out of the arseholes who claim that swearing is 'the sign of a poor vocabulary' or 'unnecessary.' Bollocks to them. This book puts those dim wankers right in as serious, intelligent, knowledgeable and hilarious a fashion as the subject deserves. * Stephen Fry *This is a wonderfully well-written exploration of all aspects of swearing-cultural, linguistic, ethical and political. It's both insightful and an absolute page-turner, which made me laugh out loud several times-not a very common experience with philosophy books! In short, it's an excellent fucking book. * Jennifer Saul, Waterloo Chair in Social and Political Philosophy of Language, University of Waterloo *Roache skillfully probes the complexities of profanity use and its relevance to decorum, identity, and power. This will intrigue linguists and potty-mouthed laypeople alike. * Publishers Weekly *A lively examination of swearing in all its forms, and although it is often humorous, Roache also has serious points to make...With dry wit and a storyteller's eye, Roache romps through the history and social meaning of colorful language. * Kirkus Reviews *[B]oth academic and hilarious. Readers lured in by the title (and its sanitizing asterisk), especially those interested in the farreaching effects of language, and those who love to swear, will find much to ponder. * Laurie Unger Skinner, The Booklist *A really refreshing and insightful book. * The Debut Digest *Highly readable and amusing. * Cathleen Mair, Idler *Highly original ... It reveals all kinds of things about how we relate to people and the different ways in which we can communicate, threaten, or tease. I love this book. * Nigel Warburton, Five Books *Table of ContentsIntroduction Why give a shit about swearing? Chapter 1 What is swearing? Chapter 2 Swearing's secret offensive ingredient Chapter 3 There is no secret ingredient Chapter 4 Different kinds of wrong Chapter 5 Taboo, aggression, and harsh sweary sounds Chapter 6 How to be a really offensive swearer Chapter 7 You talkin' to me? Chapter 8 A regulatory fucking mess Chapter 9 How to do things with swearing Chapter 10 Fairer swearers Chapter 11 Swears versus slurs Chapter 12 Cunt and cocksucker Chapter 13 Cunt and 'cunt' Chapter 14 How the f*** do asterisks work? Chapter 15 Swearing as a force for good Chapter 16 The value of offensiveness Conclusion You're all fucking superheroes Acknowledgements References Index

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This is the first comprehensive textbook on higher-order logic that is written specifically to introduce the subject matter to graduate students in philosophy. The book covers both the formal aspects of higher-order languagestheir model theory and proof theory, the theory of ?-abstraction and its generalizationsand their philosophical applications, especially to the topics of modality and propositional granularity. The book has a strong focus on non-extensional higher-order logics, making it more appropriate for foundational metaphysics than other introductions to the subject from computer science, mathematics, and linguistics. A Philosophical Introduction to Higher-order Logics assumes only that readers have a basic knowledge of first-order logic. With an emphasis on exercises, it can be used as a textbook though is also ideal for self-study.Author Andrew Bacon organizes the book''s 18 chapters around four main parts:I. Typed LanguageII. Higher-Order La

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed novelist and academic Tabish Khair argues that literature as a distinct mode of thinking can counteract fundamentalism.Literature is a mode of thinking, stories being one of the oldest thinking ''devices'' known to humankind. The ways in which literature enables us to think are distinctive and necessary, because of the relationships between its material (''language'') and its subject matter (''reality''). Although present in oral literature, these relationships are exposed in their full complexity with the rise of literature as a distinct form of writing. Literature Against Fundamentalism argues that literature enables us to engage with reality in language and language in reality, where both are mutually constitutive, constantly changing, and partly elusive.Tabish Khair defines this mode of engagement as essentially an agnostic one, resistant to simple dogma. Hence, literature can provide an antidote to fundamentalism. Khair argues that reading literature as literature--and n

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Book SynopsisWhether in basketball, football, or MMA, athletes talk trash to each other-and sometimes to fans-like it's their job. And in some ways, it is: sports only matter if we decide to care about them. And insulting your opponent, or playing the heel, is probably the fastest route to making someone care. Talking smack is as old as the bible; it's perhaps the original sport.But until now, there's never been a book about it.In this lively, often hilarious history, Rafi Kohan interviews some of the world's top competitors-on the petty rivalries and mind games that fuel them. He talks to point guards and soccer strikers, cricketers and insult comedians, forming a theory along the way about the surprising and influential role that name-calling plays in our world.Brilliantly original and wide-ranging, Trash Talk is a book for sports fans, culture mavens, or anyone looking to get an edge.

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Book SynopsisJapanese philosophy is now a flourishing field with thriving societies, journals, and conferences dedicated to it around the world, made possible by an ever-increasing library of translations, books, and articles. The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a foundation-laying reference work that covers, in detail and depth, the entire span of this philosophical tradition, from ancient times to the present. It introduces and examines the most important topics, figures, schools, and texts from the history of philosophical thinking in premodern and modern Japan. Each chapter, written by a leading scholar in the field, clearly elucidates and critically engages with its topic in a manner that demonstrates its contemporary philosophical relevance. The Handbook opens with an extensive introductory chapter that addresses the multifaceted question, What is Japanese Philosophy? The first fourteen chapters cover the premodern history of Japanese philosophy, with sections dedicated to Shinto and the Synthetic Nature of Japanese Philosophical Thought, Philosophies of Japanese Buddhism, and Philosophies of Japanese Confucianism and Bushido. Next, seventeen chapters are devoted to Modern Japanese Philosophies. After a chapter on the initial encounter with and appropriation of Western philosophy in the late nineteenth-century, this large section is divided into one subsection on the most well-known group of twentieth-century Japanese philosophers, The Kyoto School, and a second subsection on the no less significant array of Other Modern Japanese Philosophies. Rounding out the volume is a section on Pervasive Topics in Japanese Philosophical Thought, which covers areas such as philosophy of language, philosophy of nature, ethics, and aesthetics, spanning a range of schools and time periods. This volume will be an invaluable resource specifically to students and scholars of Japanese philosophy, as well as more generally to those interested in Asian and comparative philosophy and East Asian studies.Trade Reviewthis book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review *Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo *Philosophy today should no longer privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook is a major contribution to that endeavor. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University *An ambitious work * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East and West *The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a major contribution to the field written by a leading group of international scholars. Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy today. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo *Philosophy today should no longer continue to privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook contributes to that cross-cultural endeavor by setting forth a comprehensive overview of 'Japanese philosophy' based on multifarious ancient and traditional ways of thinking as well as modern engagements with Western philosophy. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University *[This book aims] to provide the reader (the specialist and non-specialist alike) with a foundational framework in which to engage interpretively the tradition of Japanese philosophy. ... In short, the volume invites us to join and participate in the project of Japanese philosophy itself. * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East & West *For researchers and enthusiasts of Japanese philosophy, religious or otherwise, this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University, Religious Studies Review *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'Precise, concentrated, lyrical. No one writes like Lydia Davis, and everyone should read her' * Hanif Kureishi *

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Book SynopsisHenri Meschonnic was a linguist, poet, translator of the Bible and one of the most original French thinkers of his generation. This Reader, featuring fourteen texts covering the core concepts and topics of Meschonnic's theory, will enrich, enhance and challenge your understanding of language

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisIn this book one of the world's foremost philosophers of language presents his unifying vision of the field--its principal achievements, its most pressing current questions, and its most promising future directions. In addition to explaining the progress philosophers have made toward creating a theoretical framework for the study of language, ScottTrade Review"[Philosophy of Language] covers an impressive number of controversies in philosophy of language. And it does that in a nontechnical way that is likely to prove attractive to many instructors in the field."--Choice "[T]his is, in my view, a very valuable (though not at all introductory) overview, from a particular perspective, to be sure, of the trajectory on the philosophy of language from Frege to the present... [I]t covers a remarkable amount of ground in a short space, both presenting and contributing to an important network of themes that have shaped the philosophical study of language in the analytic tradition."--Kirk Ludwig, PhilosophiaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 PART ONE: A Century of Work in the Philosophy of Language Chapter One: The Logical Study of Language 7 1.1 Gottlob Frege--Origins of the Modern Enterprise 7 1.11 Foundations of Philosophical Semantics 7 1.12 Frege's Distinction between Sense and Reference 8 1.13 The Compositionality of Sense and Reference 10 1.14 Frege's Hierarchy of Indirect Senses and Referents 13 1.15 The Semantic Importance of Frege's Platonist Epistemology 15 1.16 Potential Problems and Alternative Analyses 16 1.17 The Fregean Legacy 20 1.2 Bertrand Russell: Fundamental Themes 20 1.21 Quantification, Propositions, and Propositional Functions 20 1.22 Generalized Quantifiers 23 1.23 Denoting Phrases, Definite Descriptions, and Logical Form 24 1.24 Russell's Theory of Scope 26 1.25 Thought, Meaning, Acquaintance, and Logically Proper Names 28 1.26 Existence and Negative Existentials 30 Selected Further Reading 32 Chapter Two: Truth, Interpretation, and Meaning 33 2.1 The Importance of Tarski 33 2.11 Truth, Models, and Logical Consequence 33 2.12 The Significance of Tarski for the Philosophy of Language 38 2.2 Rudolf Carnap's Embrace of Truth-Theoretic Semantics 41 2.3 The Semantic Approach of Donald Davidson 45 Selected Further Reading 49 Chapter Three: Meaning, Modality, and Possible Worlds Semantics 50 3.1 Kripke-Style Possible Worlds Semantics 50 3.2 Robert Stalnaker and David Lewis on Counterfactuals 56 3.3 The Montagovian Vision 63 Selected Further Reading 75 Chapter Four: Rigid Designation, Direct Reference, and Indexicality 77 4.1 Background 77 4.2 Kripke on Names, Natural Kind Terms, and Necessity 78 4.21 Rigid Designation, Essentialism, and Nonlinguistic Necessity 78 4.22 The Nondescriptive Semantics of Names 80 4.23 Natural Kind Terms 88 4.24 Kripke's Essentialist Route to the Necessary Aposteriori 91 4.3 Kaplan on Direct Reference and Indexicality 93 4.31 Significance: The Tension between Logic and Semantics 93 4.32 The Basic Structure of the Logic of Demonstratives 94 4.33 Direct Reference and Rigid Designation 97 4.34 'Dthat' and 'Actually' 99 4.35 English Demonstratives vs.'Dthat'-Rigidified Descriptions 100 4.36 Final Assessment 104 Selected Further Reading 105 PART TWO : New Directions Chapter Five: The Metaphysics of Meaning: Propositions and Possible Worlds 109 5.1 Loci of Controversy 109 5.2 Propositions 111 5.21 Why We Need Them and Why Theories of Truth Conditions Can't Provide Them 111 5.22 Why Traditional Propositions Won't Do 113 5.23 Toward a Naturalistic Theory of Propositions 116 5.231 The Deflationary Approach 117 5.232 The Cognitive-Realist Approach 121 5.3 Possible World-States 123 5.31 How to Understand Possible World-States 123 5.32 The Relationship between Modal and Nonmodal Truths 126 5.33 Our Knowledge of World-States 126 5.34 Existent and Nonexistent World-States 128 5.35 The Function of World-States in Our Theories 129 Selected Further Reading 130 Chapter Six: Apriority, Aposteriority, and Actuality 131 6.1 Language, Philosophy, and the Modalities 131 6.2 Apriority and Actuality 132 6.21 Apriori Knowledge of the Truth of Aposteriori Propositions at the Actual World-State 132 6.22 The Contingent Apriori and the Apriori Equivalence of P and the Proposition That P Is True at @ 134 6.23 Why Apriority Isn't Closed under Apriori Consequence: Two Ways of Knowing @ 135 6.24 Apriori Truths That Are Known Only Aposteriori 136 6.25 Apriority and Epistemic Possibility 137 6.26 Are Singular Thoughts Instances of the Contingent Apriori? 140 6.3 'Actually' 142 Selected Further Reading 143 Chapter Seven: The Limits of Meaning 145 7.1 The Traditional Conception of Meaning, Thought, Assertion, and Implicature 145 7.2 Challenges to the Traditional Conception 147 7.21 Demonstratives: A Revision of Kaplan 147 7.22 Incomplete Descriptions, Quantifiers, and Context 151 7.23 Pragmatic Enrichment and Incomplete Semantic Contents 155 7.231 Implicature, Impliciture, and Assertion 155 7.232 Pervasive Incompleteness? Possessives, Compound Nominals, and Temporal Modification 158 7.3 A New Conception of the Relationship between Meaning, Thought, Assertion, and Implicature 163 7.31 The Guiding Principle 163 7.32 Demonstratives and Incomplete Descriptions Revisited 164 7.33 Names and Propositional Attitudes 168 7.4 What Is Meaning? The Distinction between Semantics and Pragmatics 171 Selected Further Reading 173 References 175 Index 187

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Book SynopsisA fruitful and insightful study of how language affects how we understand the world, this book is also an indispensable work for all those seeking to retrieve some kind of meaning in uncertain times.Trade Review'The writer's own introduction is a wonderful discourse on the whole state of language and meaning studies as these touch the issue of metaphor; few thinkers are as adept as Ricoeur at placing their own work in the context of that of others, naming the heroes and villains.' - John B. Davis, Philosophical Studies'...the density, acuity, and sheer scope of the argument are impressive.' - Times Literary Supplement'I do not think that anyone would fail to find illumination and challenge in reading him.' - Times Literary Supplement'This is Ricoeur at his pedagogical best - lucid, learned, inspiring. His generous range of reference - from Aristotle and Aquinas to Heidegger and Max Black - is breathtaking.' - Richard Kearney, Author of On Stories'I do not think that anyone would fail to find illumination and challenge in reading him.' - Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsTranslator's introduction Introduction Study 1/Between Rhetoric and Poetics: Aristotle 1. Rhetoric and Poetics 2. The intersection of the Poetics and the Rhetorics: 'Epiphora of the name' 3. An enigma: metaphor and simile (eikon) 4. The place of exis in rhetoric 5. The place of lexis in poetics Study 2/The decline of rhetoric: Tropology 1. The rhetorical 'model' of tropology Fontainer: the primacy of idea and of word 3. Trope and figure 4. Metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor 5. The family of metaphor 6. Forced metaphor and newly invented metaphorStudy 3/Metaphor and the semantics of Discourse 1. The debate between semantics and semiotics 2. Semantics and rhetoric of metaphor 3. Logical grammar and semantics 4. Literary criticism and semantics Study 4/Metaphor and the Semantics of the word 1. Monism of the sign and primacy of the word 2. Logic and linguistics of denomination 3. Metaphor as 'change of meaning' 4. Metaphor and the Saussurean postulates 5. Between sentence and word: the interplay of meaning Study 5/Metaphor and the new rhetoric 1. Deviation and rhetoric degree zone 2. The space of the figure 3. Deviation and reduction of deviation 4. The functioning of figures: 'semic' analysis Study 6/The work of resemblance 1. Substitution and resemblance 2. The 'iconic' moment of metaphor 3. The case against resemblance 5. Psycholinguistics of metaphor 6. Icon and image Study 7/Metaphor and reference 1. The postulates of reference 2. The case against reference 3. A generalized theory of denotation 4. Model and metaphor 5. Towards the concept of 'metaphorical truth' Study 8/Metaphor and Philosophical Discourse 1. Metaphor and the equivocalness of being: Aristotle 2. Metaphor and analogia entis: onto-theology 3. Meta-phor and meta-physics 4. The intersection of spheres of discourse 5. Ontological clarification of the postulate reference Appendix Notes Works cited Index of authors

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Trade Review‘Read this first, then read Chomsky.’John Searle, New York Review of Books ‘John Lyons’ book on Chomsky is simply the best short introduction in the English language. It is within the grasp of an intelligent layman. Anyone who reads it will understand the elements of tranformational grammar, and be able to follow current controversies.’Leonard Jackson, Times Educational Supplement ‘Lyons’ account is itself a minor modern masterpiece of compression and clarity.’Alan Ryan, New Society

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Book Synopsis'Ingenious a glorious portrait of the great 15th-century prince of learning' Daily Telegraph

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Book Synopsis''Stuffed with entertaining detail ... Horrible Words is lively, provocative, witty and enlightening'' The TimesNothing inflames the language purists like an illogical irregardless or a hideous otherization. But is it enough simply to dismiss these words as vile and barbarous howlers? Taking a genial tour far and wide through our linguistic badlands, Rebecca Gowers finds answers that are helpful, surprising and often extremely funny.''Exuberant, erudite, informative and fun ... a call on all English-speakers to trust their own feel for their language, to relish their verbal inventiveness and to do battle against the pedants who tell them they are wrong'' Michael Skapinker, Financial Times ''A very useful book, packed with good historical sense'' Lynne Truss, The TimesTrade ReviewA great delight -- David CrystalGowers is fierce, funny and staggeringly well informed -- Alan Connor * Mail on Sunday *Stuffed with entertaining detail ... Horrible Words is lively, provocative, witty and enlightening * The Times *Exuberant and stimulating ... erudite, informative and fun * Financial Times *Witty ... wry ... As a heretic, Gowers cuts a formidable figure * The Times Literary Supplement *A very useful book, packed with good historical sense -- Lynne Truss * The Times *A joy - informative and irreverent -- Caroline TaggartWitty and erudite ... A splendid antidote to small-minded pedantry -- Robbie Millen * The Times *Will have you enraptured by etymology ... Hugely enjoyable * Reader's Digest *

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Book Synopsis''Language is a body, a living creature ... and this creature''s home is the inarticulate as well as the articulate''. John Berger''s work has revolutionized the way we understand visual language. In this new book he writes about language itself, and how it relates to thought, art, song, storytelling and political discourse today. Also containing Berger''s own drawings, notes, memories and reflections on everything from Albert Camus to global capitalism, Confabulations takes us to what is ''true, essential and urgent''.Trade ReviewHis writing ... has changed the way many of us see the world ... Berger has that rare and wonderful gift of being able to make complex thoughts simple -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *John Berger teaches us how to think, how to feel, how to stare at things till we see what we thought wasn't there. But above all he teaches us how to love in the face of adversity. He is a master -- Arundhati RoyOne of the greatest thinkers in postwar Britain * Guardian *He handles thoughts the way an artist handles paint -- Jeanette WintersonBerger is terrific ... Brilliant * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisIs it sexist to say that “men are trash”? Can white people be victims of racism? Do we bear any individual responsibility for climate change?We’ve all wrestled with questions like these, whether we’re shouting at a relative across the dinner table, quarreling with old classmates on social media, or chatting late into the night with friends. Many people give kneejerk answers that roughly align with their broader belief system, but flounder when asked for their reasoning, leading to a conversational stalemate—especially when faced with a political, generational, or cultural divide.The truth is that our answers to these questions almost always rely on unexamined assumptions. In Arguing for a Better World, philosopher Arianne Shahvisi shows us how to work through thorny moral questions by examining their parts in broad daylight, equipping us to not only identify our own positions but to defend them as well. This book demonstrates

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Book SynopsisLudwig Wittgenstein''s interest in the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, is recognized among scholars worldwide though little has been written on his fascination with Tagore''s poetry and symbolic plays. In Language, Limits, and Beyond, Priyambada Sarkar explores Tagore and Wittgenstein''s philosophical arguments on the concept of ''threshold of language and meaning'', highlighting the systematic connections between Tagore''s canon and Wittgenstein''s early works. Situating her study in the early 1900s, when Tagore''s poetry had just become available in Europe, Sarkar finds similarities between Tagore''s and Wittgenstein''s exploration of the limits of language. She argues that Wittgenstein''s early philosophy can be better understood when juxtaposed with Tagore.Drawing parallels between the worlds of philosophy and poetry, Sarkar identifies the point of convergence of their two philosophies in the realm of language, tracing how they reach surprisingly similar conclusions through entire

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