Philosophy of language Books

Book SynopsisPhilosopher, psychologist and linguist are all concerned with natural language. Accordingly, in seeking a unified view, David Braine draws on insights from all these fields, sifting through the discordant schools of linguists. He concludes that one extended logic or “integrated semantic syntax” shapes grammar, but without constricting languages to being of one grammatical type.

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

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewGjesdal's book is erudite, precise, and rich in detail, yet still elegant and accessible...Gjesdal shows how the characters in Ibsens plays, more than representing certain philosophical ideas, actively demonstrate how these ideas might play out in an embodied life... Gjesdal's work is not just yet another testimony to the greatness of Ibsen's writing. Her purpose is more pointedly to show that drama can develop philosophical thought in ways that philosophy on its own perhaps cannot... Gjesdal's book makes for essential reading for anyone interested in the complex relationship between drama and philosophy in the nineteenth century, and for those seeking to free philosophical reflection from the confines of academic discourse in the twenty-first. * Alice Lagaay, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Modern Drama *The scope of Gjesdal's work is monumental. She writes across almost the entire arc of Ibsen's oeuvre, a century of European philosophy, and the scholarly traditions of (at least) three languages...As valuable as Gjesdal's meticulous research is, the new interpretive possibilities she raises are an even greater critical contribution, not only for philosophers but for theatre scholars and practitioners as well. * Theatre Survey *The Drama of History deftly explores the synergy between drama and philosophy in 19th-century Europe as it finds expression in Henrik Ibsen via two of the leading thinkers of the age, Hegel and Nietzsche. Gjesdal...considers this particularly in terms of the trio's orientation to the unfolding of history in an age when new disruptive values supplanted the staid traditional norms that had governed human relations for centuries...Gjesdal reads seven Ibsen plays against the Hegelian and Nietzschean intellectual backdrop that dominated the Continent. Her interest is in determining not so much how Ibsen reflected these novel yet frequently unsettling ideas in his plays but how he grappled with them philosophically in order to forge a coherent and defensible world view. Gjesdal is especially adept at showing how Ibsen crafted psychologically complex characters who sought authentic rather than aestheticized selves...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *Kristin Gjesdal has already published a long series of articles and one anthology on the philosophical impact of Ibsen's dramatic works. With the present volume she delivers a more comprehensive and more deeply analyzed study on the subject that focuses on Ibsen's discussion of the philosophy of history...I hope that my attempt to paraphrase the findings of the study indicates the originality of its perspective and the richness of its findings. All in all, the study offers one of the most interesting studies on Ibsen and philosophy to date...Looking at the sophisticated findings one could assume that the book is hard to read and to understand. The opposite holds true. Gjesdal's study is characterized by a highly transparent argumentation and a prose style that deserves the old rhetorical laud of clarity. * Ibsen Studies *Kristin Gjesdal's The Drama of History: Ibsen, Hegel, Nietzsche is a rich exploration of Hegelian and Nietzchean themes in and through Ibsen's work. Ibsen (1828–1906) was born shortly before Hegel's death (1831) and was a contemporary of Nietzsche (1844–1900). Some of Ibsen's best-known plays – A Doll's House, Ghosts, The Wild Duck – premiered during Nietzsche's most active period of philosophical writing. Gjesdal'sbook is also a window onto Hegel's and Nietzsche's 19th-century reception in Scandinavia, and their place in literary and artistic circles. That said, Gjesdal's book is not just about charting influence. This makes the study especially interesting andphilosophically rich... Gjesdal reads the plays as taking up Hegelian and Nietzschean themes, yet complicating and challenging them, in such a way as not only to have Hegel and Nietzsche shed light on Ibsen but also to have Ibsen shed light onHegel and Nietzsche. * Analysis *Kristin Gjesdal has written a lucid, fascinating book that will be valuable both for literary scholars and for philosophers. Without in the slightest sacrificing attention to the distinctive literary dimensions of Ibsen's work, she shows in unusual detail how his dramas bear on modern historical self-consciousness and on philosophers concerned with the same problems of historicity, like Hegel and Nietzsche. The Ibsen who emerges from her study is as compelling a thinker as he is a dramatist. * Robert B. Pippin, The Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy and Chair of The John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, The University of Chicago *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Losing Time (The Vikings at Helgeland) Chapter 2: History Adrift; Subjectivity Probed (Peer Gynt) Chapter 3: Ruins of Antiquity (Emperor and Galilean) Chapter 4: Modern Times (A Doll's House) Chapter 5: Tragedy and Tradition (Ghosts) Chapter 6: Teaching History (An Enemy of The People) Chapter 7: History and Existence (Hedda Gabler) Conclusion

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Book SynopsisOne of America''s most celebrated poets, Emily Dickinson was virtually unpublished in her lifetime. When a slim volume of her poems emerged on the American scene in 1890, her work created shockwaves that have not subsided yet. Famously precise and sparse, Emily Dickinson''s poetry is often described as philosophical, both because her poetry grapples with philosophical topics like death, spirituality, and the darkening operations of the mind, and because she approaches those topics in a characteristically philosophical manner: analyzing and extrapolating from close observation, exploring alternatives, and connecting thoughts into cumulative demonstrations. But unlike Lucretius or Pope, she cannot be accused of producing versified treatises. Many of her poems are unsettling in their lack of conclusion; their disparate insights often stand in conflict; and her logic turns crucially on imagery, juxtaposition, assonance, slant rhyme, and punctuation. The six chapters of this volume collectiTable of ContentsEditor's Introduction: Emily Dickinson's Epistemic Ambitions for Poetry Chapter 1: Forms of Emotional Knowing and Unknowing: Skepticism and Belief in Dickinson's Poetry, Rick Anthony Furtak Chapter 2: Interiority and Expression in Dickinson's Lyrics, Magdalena Ostas Chapter 3: How to Know Everything, Oren Izenberg Chapter 4: Form and Content in Emily Dickinson's Poetry, Antony Aumann Chapter 5: The Uses of Obstruction, David Hills Chapter 6: Dickinson and Pivoting Thought, Eileen John

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Book SynopsisMark Richard presents an original picture of meaning according to which a word''s meaning is analogous to the biological lineages we call species. His primary thesis is that a word''s meaning - in the sense of what one needs to track in order to be a competent speaker - is the collection of assumptions its users make in using it and expect their hearers to recognize as being made. Meaning is something that is spread across a population, inherited by each new generation of speakers from the last, and typically evolving in so far as what constitutes a meaning changes in virtue of the interactions of speakers with their (linguistic and social) environment. Meanings as Species develops and defends the analogy between the biological and the linguistic, and includes a discussion of the senses in which the processes of meaning change are and are not like evolution via natural selection. Richard argues that thinking of meanings as species supports Quine''s insights about analyticity without reTable of ContentsIntroduction 1: Quine and the Species Problem 2: Internalism to the Rescue? 3: What Are Meanings, that We Might Share Them? 4: Conceptual Evolution 5: Meaning, Thought, and its Ascription 6: Sex and Conversation Coda Bibliography

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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: "Latin Averroism" 43: The Neverending Story: The Eternity of the World 44: Let Me Count the Ways: Speculative Grammar 45: Love, Reign Over Me: the Romance of the Rose 46: Frequently Asked Questions: Henry of Ghent 47: Here Comes the Son: The Trinity and the Eucharist 48: Once and for All: Scotus on Being 49: To Will or Not to Will: Scotus on Freedom 50: On Command: Scotus' Ethics 51: One in a Million: Scotus on Universals and Individuals The Fourteenth Century 52: Time of the Signs: the Fourteenth Century 53: After Virtue: Marguerite Porete 54: To Hell and Back: Dante Alighieri 55: Church and State: Theories of Political Authority 56: Keeping the Peace: Marsilius of Padua 57: Do As You're Told: Ockham on Ethics and Political Philosophy 58: A Close Shave: Ockham's Nominalism 59: What Do You Think? Ockham on Mental Language 60: Keeping it Real: Responses to Ockham 61: Back to the Future: Divine Foreknowledge 62: Trivial Pursuits: Fourteenth Century Logic 63: Quadrivial Pursuits: the Oxford Calculators 64: Get to the Point: Fourteenth Century Physics 65: Portrait of the Artist: John Buridan 66: Seeing is Believing: Nicholas of Autrecourt's Skepticism 67: On the Money: Medieval Economic Theory 68: Down to the Ground: Meister Eckhart 69: Men in Black: The German Dominicans 70: A Wing and a Prayer: Angels in Medieval Philosophy 71: Alle Maner of Thyng Shall be Welle: English Mysticism 72: Say it With Poetry: Chaucer and Langland 73: The Good Wife: Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages 74: The Most Christian Doctor: Jean Gerson 75: Morning Star of the Reformation: John Wyclif 76: The Prague Spring: Scholasticism Across Europe 77: Renaissance Men: Ramon Llull and Petrarch

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Book SynopsisIn everyday talk about language, we distinguish between what someone said and what they implied, or otherwise conveyed, a distinction carried into theorising about language and communication. Nothing is Said argues that it is a mistake to import the notion of saying into our models of basic linguistic communication.Trade ReviewThe book is lively and engaging, and contains lots of penetrating detailed discussions of core, significant issues. It is an important contribution to the Semantics/Pragmatics literature. * Arthur Sullivan, Journal of Pragmatics *The book contains lots of penetrating detailed discussions of core, significant issues. This is an important contribution to the Semantics/ Pragmatics literature. * Arthur Sullivan, Journal of Pragmatics *

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Book SynopsisOxford Pragmatism uncovers and explores the unrecognized impact of American pragmatism on the Oxford linguistic philosophy that thrived from the 1930s to the 1950s, made famous by Gilbert Ryle and J. L Austin.

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Book SynopsisThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.If we don''t know what the words ''democracy'' and ''democratic'' mean, then we don''t know what democracy is. This book defends a radical view: these words mean nothing and should be abandoned. The argument for Abolitionism is simple: those terms are defective and we can easily do better, so let''s get rid of them. According to the abolitionist, the switch to alternative devices would be a significant communicative, cognitive, and political advance.The first part of the book presents a general theory of abandonment: the conditions under which language should be abandoned. The rest of the book applies this general theory to the case of ''democracy'' and ''democratic''. Cappelen shows that ''democracy'' and ''democratic'' are semantically, pragmatically, and communicatively Table of ContentsPreface & Acknowledgements Part I: A Theory of Abandonment 1: Introduction 2: Arguments for Abandonment 3: Abandonment compared to Elimination, Reduction, Replacement, and Amelioration 4: Abandonment and Communication Part II: Some Data about 'Democracy' 5: The Ordinary Notion of 'Democracy': Methodological Preamble 6: Some Data about 'Democracy' and 'Democratic' Part III: Abandonment of 'Democracy'? 7: Problems with 'Democracy' 8: Better than 'Democracy': A Chapter of Good Cheers 9: Consequences of Abandoning 'Democracy' Part IV: Democracy Ameliorated 10: Ameliorations of 'Democracy' 11: Verbal Disputes about 'Democracy' Part V: Efforts to Defend Democracy 12: Objections and Replies Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn this study of the cognitive paradigm, De Mey applies the study of computer models of human perception to the philosophy and sociology of science.

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Book SynopsisQuestioning the role of the human voice within the field of philosophy this text examines philosopher Stanley Cavell's viewpoint, the relation between his pervasive authorial voice and his equally powerful, though less discernible, impulse to produce a set of usable philosophical methods.Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments 1: A Prelude to the Study of Voice and Method 2: Voices 3: Criteria and Crisis 4: The Model of Reading 5: Reading and Its Reversals App: Stanley Cavell: A Brief Account Notes Principal Works of Stanley Cavell Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPoliticians and philosophers presenting themselves as the ultimate bearers of truth and reality have created unprecedented technological, cultural, and political framings. This new order conspires to undermine the interpretive practices of open-ended critique, normalizing a sense of threat to preserve control. The greatest emergency has become the absence of emergencies. Tracing an intellectual alliance between academics such as Jordan Peterson and Christina Hoff Sommers and right-wing populist politicians such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, this book denounces framings that make a claim to objectivity. With the help of contemporary thinkers including Bruno Latour, Judith Butler, and Giorgio Agamben, as well as discussion of the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie and the emergency of biodiversity loss due to climate change, Santiago Zabala illustrates that the twenty-first-century question is not whether we can be free, but how to be at large - unconstrained by theTrade Review"This is a much-needed path-breaking book, systematically showing how widespread appeals to facts, whether pure or alternative, are not only yet another claim to power, but also a new and dangerous recall to order. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in the possibility of freedom and survival in our time, this book fully illustrates the strength of Zabala's philosophy and its potential for emancipation." Chiara Bottici, author of A Philosophy of Political Myth and Imaginal Politics: Images beyond Imagination and the Imaginary"Timey and engagingly written, Being at Large advances a thesis developed in Zabala's previous work, namely, that we live in times of a dominant "absence of emergency," despite being surrounded by and immersed in emergency. This means that a long list of ongoing emergencies - including climate change, military conflicts, refugee movements, homelessness, rising inequality, the manipulation of personal information and, of course, pandemics such as the spread of COVID-19 - are framed by those in power as somehow normal, leading Zabala to the Heideggerian notion that "the only emergency is the lack of a sense of emergency."" Public Seminar"[Being at Large] is an invitation to take an existential stand for freedom. Zabala cannot tell anyone what to do, but he can invite participation in the interpretive openness of Being at large, and from that freedom one can take an existential stand." Hong Kong Review of Books“Zabala … manages, in this erudite book, to walk readers through a genealogy of interpretation as an “active practice” (with detailed attention to Augustine and Luther), and to say a great deal about metaphysics and ontology. Moreover, all thinkers will find in Zabala’s theory of ‘being at large’ a call to action, to intellectual work as an urgent task for our times.” Religious Studies Review

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Book SynopsisList of Illustrations Acknowledgements The History of a Word The Roots of Charisma Paul Invents Charisma Charisma Eclipsed Where Did Charisma Go? Weber Re-Invents Charisma Twentieth Century Charismatics The Age of Media: Charisma and Celebrity Charisma Past, Present and Future That Elusive Something Called Charisma Bibliography IndexTrade Review'Potts' contribution provides perspective and context for the teaching of leadership.' -Thomas F. Tumblin, Journal of Religious Leadership 'After reading John Potts's engrossing new book, A History of Charisma, I agree with him unreservedly...Charisma matters a lot, for good and ill, in politics, religion, business, the arts and many other walks of life.' The Australian ...[an] absorbing book...it is brilliantly argued and, though deeply scholarly, fully accessible to the general reader.' Richard King, Australian Literary Review '...it takes a skilful author to make such a page-turner based on a 'history of a word'. Potts has succeeded by writing in a lucid and intelligent style...A mystery wrapped up as a work of historical scholarship.' - Transforming Management ...'John Potts' synthesis- clearly written, and helpfully structured with numerous subheadings- leaves us with a much fuller, richer meaning for a concept that serves to provide some refuge from an increasingly rationalised, bureaucratised, disenchanted, as well as celebrity obsessed, world. Its problematic usage is unlikely to decline, and we need all the help we can get to try to understand it.' - Beverley Southgate, Rethinking HistoryTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements The History of a Word The Roots of Charisma Paul Invents Charisma Charisma Eclipsed Where Did Charisma Go? Weber Re-Invents Charisma Twentieth Century Charismatics The Age of Media: Charisma and Celebrity Charisma Past, Present and Future That Elusive Something Called Charisma Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"What do we mean by eloquence? In his new book the smart and prolific pop-linguist David Crystal sets out to give an answer—and some practical suggestions as to how any of us might work to acquire it."—Sam Leith, Financial Times"Rhetoric has its own algebra, and Crystal deciphers it superbly."—Philip Collins, Times"Reading this book is like taking an adventure in eloquence with Crystal; part self-help guide, part informative nonfiction, The Gift of the Gab offers an enjoyable exploration into the minutiae of successful speech-making, and how the capability to speak eloquently exists in all of us."—Kate Lovatt, Babel"David Crystal knows more about language than anyone alive, and here he applies his expertise and wisdom to the art of eloquence. This lively and endearing book explains why we respond to great speakers, and how you can become a better one."—Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct and The Sense of Style"As an occasional public speaker, and a nervous one at that, I found David Crystal's gift to the gabless a reassuring read. He provides practical advice to we poor 'glossophobics' and, like all the best speeches, his book illustrates, illuminates and inspires."—Roger McGough"David Crystal’s enthusiasm for his subject is infectious. This is an entertaining, erudite and very useful guide for both the seasoned speaker and the neophyte."—Katherine Fry, co-author of Grammar for Grown-Ups"More bakers are called Baker than is statistically likely. Or so they say. More Fishers trawl the seas and doubtless more Frys work in chip shops. They call it nominative determinism. I expect David Crystal must tire of being told how aptly limpid, pellucid and crystal-clear his writing always is. Nonetheless it is true. I have come across many books on rhetoric, on good writing, on efficient language production and countless guides to public speaking and increasing 'word power,' but the beguiling subject of eloquence has not, so far as I am aware, been tackled before and certainly not so masterfully and comprehensively. Crystal covers eloquence so damned eloquently. And with exactly that flair, accessibility, clarity, wit and authority we have come to expect from Britain's leading public linguist. This is a book that will be leapt upon by anyone curious about how language, that unimaginably powerful endowment we all share, can be elevated beyond the mundane in all kinds of discourses. This is not about hifalutin language, it is about living language. Every page crackles with insight, humour and understanding. Crystal's passion for his subject communicates quite brilliantly. I closed this superb book filled with even more enthusiasm for language than I had had when I opened it."—Stephen Fry

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Book SynopsisMeaning addresses the fundamental question of human language interaction: what it is to mean, and how we communicate our meanings to others. Experienced textbook writer and eminent researcher Betty J. Birner gives balanced coverage to semantics and pragmatics, emphasizing interactions between the two, and discusses other fields of language study such as syntax, neurology, philosophy of language, and artificial intelligence in terms of their interfaces with linguistic meaning.Comics and diagrams appear throughout to keep the reader engaged; and end-of-chapter quizzes, data-collection exercises, and opinion questions are employed along with more traditional exercises and discussion questions. In addition, the book features copious examples from real life and current events, along with boxes describing linguistic issues in the news and interesting and accessible research on topics like swearing, politics, and animal communication. Students will emerge ready for deeper sTrade Review"Betty Birner’s new book is an ideal guide for students’ magical mystery tour of the fascinating intricacies of pragmatics and semantics. Professor Birner clearly introduces landmark research in linguistics, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines, inspiring and helping students begin exploring meaning-language connections for themselves."Sally McConnell-Ginet, Linguistics, Cornell University, USATable of ContentsList of boxesList of figuresList of truth tablesPrefaceAcknowledgments1. What is language? Linguistics The rules of language Language change Research in linguistics Philosophy of language: How meaning works Types of meaning Where is meaning located? The philosophers weigh in, beginning with: Frege Russell Strawson Donnellan The upshot Semantics and pragmatics Discourse models and possible worlds Exercises2. Semantics I: Word meaning What is a word? Where words come from Historical descent Other sources of new words Lexical relations Approaches to word meaning Componential analysis Other primitive-based approaches Prototype theory and The Great Sandwich Controversy Exercises3. Semantics II: Sentence meaning Truth and meaning Sentential relations Logical operators Negation Conjunction Disjunction The conditional The biconditional Propositional logic Analytic statements Synthetic statements Predicate logic Predicates and constants Variables Quantifiers Ambiguity and scope Exercises4. Pragmatics I: The Cooperative Principle Reprise: Semantics vs. pragmatics The Cooperative Principle The maxims The maxim of Quantity The maxim of Quality The maxim of Relation The maxim of Manner Revisiting Grice’s problem Tests for conversational implicature Implicature and pragmatic theory Conventional implicature The Gricean world view Pragmatics after Grice Explicature Impliciture Neo-Gricean theory Relevance theory Boundary disputes Exercises5. Pragmatics II: Speech acts Speech acts Performatives Constatives Types of speech acts: first pass Indirect speech acts Felicity conditions Felicity conditions, speech acts, and the Cooperative Principle Types of speech acts: second pass Politeness theory Exercises6. Language structure The Chomskyan revolution Sound structure Word structure Morphemes Allomorphs Words Parts of speech Structure and function Representing word structure Other ways of building words Sentence structure Ambiguity and constituency Representing sentence structure Expanding our grammar Structural ambiguity So what’s the point? Exercises7. Interfaces I: Semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy Reference and the semantics/pragmatics boundary What do we refer to when we refer? Deixis and anaphora Indexicals Deixis Personal deixis Spatial deixis Temporal deixis Discourse deixis Anaphora Reference resolution Cataphora Anaphora and phrase types Definiteness Definiteness as uniqueness Definiteness as familiarity Presupposition Testing for presupposition Presupposition triggers Theories of presupposition Accommodation Exercises8. Interfaces II: Structure and meaning Semantic roles Argument-structure alternations Information structure Preposing Postposing Argument reversal Inference Open propositions Constructions The type/token distinction Exercises9. Meaning and human cognition Language and the brain Brain structure Neurons Aphasia Language and thought Does the language I speak affect my view of reality? Language use and world view Advertising Politics and public policy Language and prejudice Connecting the dots Exercises10. Meaning, minds, and machines The nuts and bolts Natural-language processing Artificial intelligence Data mining Deep learning Meaning and the self Bodies and minds Language and consciousness Exercises References Index

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Book SynopsisIn Do Numbers Exist? Peter van Inwagen and William Lane Craig take opposite sides on whether there are abstract objects, such as numbers and properties. Craig argues that there are no abstract objects, whereas Van Inwagen argues that there are. Their exchange explores various arguments about the existence and nature of abstract objects. They focus especially on whether our ordinary and scientific thought and talk commit us to abstract objects, surveying the options available to us and the objections each faces. The debate covers central problems and methods in metaphysics, and also delves into theological questions raised by abstract objects.Key Features: Showcases the presentation and defense of two points of view on the existence of abstract objects, from two of the world's leading philosophers Presents definitions in an easily accessible form Provides frequent summaries of previously covered material Includes a glo

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Book SynopsisExploring the nature of possible relationships between Integrational Linguistics and Southern Epistemologies, this volume examines various ways in which Integrational Linguistics can be used to support the decolonizing interests of Southern Epistemologies, particularly the lay-oriented nature of Integrational Linguistics that Southern Epistemologies find productive as a positive counter-discourse.' As both an anti-elitist and antiestablishment way of thinking, these chapters consider how Integrational Linguistics can be consistent with the decolonial aspirations of Southern Epistemologies. They argue that the relationship between Southern Epistemologies and Integrational Linguistics is complicated by the fact that, while Integrational Linguistics is critical of what it calls a segregationist view of language, i.e., the language myth,' Southern Epistemologies in language policy and planning and minority language movements find the language myth helpful in order to facilitate sTable of ContentsPreface: Linguistics and the Moral Compass; Introduction: Introducing Integrational Linguistics; 1. Edward Said, Roy Asked, and the Peasant Responded: Reflections on Peasants, Popular Culture and Intellectuals; 2. Three Critical Perspectives on the Ontology of Language; 3. Integrationism, Individualism and Personalism: The Politics of Essentialism; 4. A Clash of Linguistic Philosophies? Charles Goodwin's 'Co-Operative Action': An Integrationist Perspective; 5. Text Annotation: Examining Evidence for a Multisemiotic Instinct and the Intertextuality of the Sign in a Database of Pristine Self-Directed Communication; 6. The Semiological Implications of Knowledge-Ideologies: A Harrisian Perspective; 7. Rhetoric and Integrationism: In Search of Rapprochement; 8. Integrationism and Postcolonialism: Convergences or Divergences? An Integrational Discussion on Ethnocentricity and the (Post)colonial Translation Myth; 9. Integrationism and the Global South: Songs as Epistemic and Ontological Frameworks in Language Studies; 10. Words and Other Currencies; 11. Beyond IL from the Perspective of Languaging Without Languages

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the 17th-century play of mourning, Walter Benjamin identifies allegory as the constitutive trope of modernity, bespeaking a haunted, bedeviled world of mutability and eternal transience. In this rigorous elegant translation, history as trauerspiel is the condition as well as subject of modern allegory in its inscription of the abyssal.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTemporal Logics are a rich variety of logical systems designed for formalising reasoning about time, and about events and changes in the world over time. This Element aims at providing both a panoramic view and closer looks at temporal logics.Table of ContentsPreface; 1. Temporal reasoning and logics: introduction and a brief historical overview; 2. The variety of models of time; 3. Prior's basic systems of temporal logic; 4. Temporal logics for linear time; 5. Reasoning about non-determinism: models and logics for branching time; 6. The Peircean branching time logic PBTL; 7. The Ockhamist branching time logic OBTL; 8. First-order temporal logics; 9. Variations, extensions, and applications of temporal logics; References.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers readers a collection of 50 short chapter entries on topics in the philosophy of language. Each entry addresses a paradox, a longstanding puzzle, or a major theme that has emerged in the field from the last 150 years, tracing overlap with issues in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, ethics, political philosophy, and literature. Each of the 50 entries is written as a piece that can stand on its own, though useful connections to other entries are mentioned throughout the text. Readers can open the book and start with almost any of the entries, following themes of greatest interest to them. Each entry includes recommendations for further reading on the topic. Philosophy of Language: 50 Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Thought Experiments is useful as a standalone textbook, or can be supplemented by additional readings that instructors choose. The accessible style makes it suitable for introductory level through intermediate undergraduate courses,Table of ContentsPart I: Big picture questions Part II: Early Analytic Philosophy and Pragmatism Part III: Wittgenstein on Rule-Following and Private Language Part IV: Semantic Paradoxes Part V: Context-Sensitivity Part VI: Speech Acts and Pragmatics Part VII: Lingering Issues About Meaning Part VIII: Naturalism and Externalism

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Book SynopsisThis book examines how mysticism can tell us about translation and translation can tell us about mysticism, addressing the ancient but ongoing connections between the art of rendering one text in another language and the art of the ineffable.The volume represents the first sustained act of attention to the interdisciplinary crossover of these two fields, taking a Wittgensteinian approach to language, and investigates how mystics and their translators manage to write about what cannot be written about. Three questions are addressed overall: how mysticism can be used to conceptualise translation; the issues that mysticism raises for translation theory and practice; and how mystical texts have been and might be translated. Walter Benjamin's The Translator's Task' is considered in detail as a controversial example of dialogue. Translation examples are given in a range of languages, and six major case studies are provided, including a close reading of Exodus and an analysis of a r

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Book SynopsisReasons for Logic, Logic for Reasons presents a philosophical conception of logiclogical expressivismaccording to which the role of logic is to make explicit reason relations, which are often neither monotonic nor transitive. This conception of logic reveals new and enlightening perspectives on inferential roles, sequent calculi, representation, truthmakers, and many extant logical theories.The book shows how we can understand different metavocabularies as making explicit the same reason relations, namely normative-pragmatic, alethic-representational, logical, and implication-space metavocabularies. This includes a philosophical account of the pragmatic role of reason relations, treatments of nonmonotonic and nontransitive consequence relations in sequent calculi, a correspondence between these sequent calculi and variants of truthmaker theory, and the introduction of a novel kind of formal semantics that interprets sentences by assigning inferential roles to them. The

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Book SynopsisPhilosophy of language explores some of the most abstract yet most fundamental questions in philosophy. The ideas of some of the subject's great founding figures, such as Gottlob Frege, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, as well as of more recent figures such as Saul Kripke and Hilary Putnam, are central to a great many philosophical debates to this day and are widely studied. In this clear and carefully structured introduction to the subject Gary Kemp explains the following key topics: the basic nature of philosophy of language, its concepts and its historical development Fregeâs theory of sense and reference; Russell's theory of definite descriptions Wittgenstein's Tractatus, Ayer, and the Logical Positivists recent perspectives including Kripke, Kaplan, Putnam, Chomsky, Quine and Davidson; arguments concerning translation, necessity, indexicals, rigid designation and natural kinds the pragmatics of language, including speech-acts, presupposition and conversational implicature puzzles surrounding the propositional attitudes (sentences which ascribe beliefs to people) the challenges presented by the later Wittgenstein contemporary directions, including contextualism, fictional objects and the phenomenon of slurs The third edition has been thoroughly revised throughout and includes a new chapter on Noam Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar. In addition, the concluding chapter on modern directions in philosophy of language has been expanded to two chapters, and which now cover crucial emergent areas of study such as slurs, conceptual engineering and experimental philosophy.Chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary make What is this thing called Philosophy of Language? an indispensable introduction to those teaching philosophy of language and will be particularly useful for students coming to the subject for the first time.

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Book SynopsisThis volume addresses philosophical questions raised by the possibility of alien life and extraterrestrial intelligence. The different philosophical perspectives and approaches presented across the chapters will provide a foundation for future work on exophilosophy.Interest in space, space exploration, and alien life has never been greater. In popular culture, for example, it has proven a persistent theme in science fiction films (e.g., Star Trek, Star Wars), books (e.g., H. G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury), and computer games (e.g., Sid Meierâs Alpha Centauri), as well as bestselling ânon- fictionâ books (von DÃnikenâs multimillion-selling Chariots of the Gods?), and hit âdocumentaryâ shows (e.g., Ancient Aliens). There has also been persistent interest in these topics amongst scientists with organizations such as NASA and SETI having an enormous impact on both the scientific and popular imagination. Yet, curiously, the topic has r

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Book SynopsisPresenting a field-defining overview of one of the most appliable linguistic theories available today, this Handbook surveys the key issues in the study of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), covering an impressive range of theoretical perspectives. Written by some of the world''s foremost SFL scholars, including M. A. K. Halliday, the founder of SFL theory, the handbook covers topics ranging from the theory behind the model, discourse analysis within SFL, applied SFL, to SFL in relation to other subfields of linguistics such as intonation, typology, clinical linguistics and education. Chapters include discussion on the possible future directions in which research might be conducted and issues that can be further investigated and resolved. Readers will be inspired to pursue the challenges raised within the volume, both theoretically and practically.Table of ContentsIntroduction Wendy L. Bowcher, Lise Fontaine and David Schönthal; Part I. SFL: The Model: 1. Firth and the origins of systemic functional linguistics: process, pragma, and polysystem David G. Butt; 2. Key concepts and the architecture of language in the SFL model Jonathan J. Webster; 3. Semantics Miriam Taverniers; 4. The clause: an overview of the lexicogrammar Margaret Berry; 5. The rooms of the house: grammar at group rank Lise Fontaine and David Schönthal; 6. Context and register Wendy L. Bowcher; 7. Intonation Wendy L. Bowcher and Meena Debashish; 8. Continuing issues in SFL Mick O'Donnell; 9. The Cardiff model of functional syntax Anke Schulz and Lise Fontaine; 10. SFL in context Christopher S. Butler; Part II. Discourse Analysis within SFL: 11. Models of discourse in systemic functional linguistics Tom Bartlett; 12. Cohesion and conjunction Maite Taboada; 13. Semantic networks Andy Fung and Francis Robert Low; 14. Discourse semantics J. R. Martin; 15. Appraisal Susan Hood; 16. SFL and diachronic studies David Banks; 17. SFL and multimodal discourse analysis Kay L. O'Halloran, Sabine Tan and Peter Wignell; 18. SFL and critical discourse analysis Gerard O'Grady; Part III. SFL in Application: 19. Language development Geoff Williams; 20. Applying SFL for understanding and fostering instructed second language development Heidi Byrnes; 21. Language and education: learning to mean Peter Mickan; 22. Systemic functional linguistics and computation: new directions, new challenges John Bateman, Daniel McDonald, Tuomo Hiippala, Daniel Couto-Vale and Eugeniu Costetchi; 23. Clinical linguistics Elissa Asp and Jessica de Villiers; 24. Language and science, language in science, and linguistics as science M. A. K. Halliday and David G. Butt; 25. Language and medicine Alison Rotha Moore; 26. Language and literature Donna R. Miller; 27. Language and social media: enacting identity through ambient affiliation Michele Zappavigna; 28. Theorizing and modeling translation Erich Steiner; 29. Language typology Abhishek Kumar Kashyap; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis unique textbook introduces linguists to key issues in the philosophy of language. Accessible to students who have taken only a single course in linguistics, yet sophisticated enough to be used at the graduate level, the book provides an overview of the central issues in philosophy of language, a key topic in educating the next generation of researchers in semantics and pragmatics. Thoroughly grounded in contemporary linguistic theory, the book focus on the core foundational and philosophical issues in semantics and pragmatics, richly illustrated with historical case studies to show how linguistic questions are related to philosophical problems in areas such as metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Students are introduced in Part I to the issues at the core of semantics, including compositionality, reference and intentionality. Part II looks at pragmatics: context, conversational update, implicature and speech acts; whilst Part III discusses foundational questions about meaning. TTrade Review'This rich textbook fills an important need. It will provide indispensable background in philosophy of language for anyone interested in the modern linguistic study of meaning. Linguists and philosophers alike will benefit from Szabó and Thomason's skilled guide to foundational issues.' Kai von Fintel, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Philosophy of Semantics: 1. Frege and Tarski; 2. Compositionality; 3. Reference and quantification; 4. Tense and modality; 5. Intentionality; Part II. Philosophy of Pragmatics: 6. Austin and Grice; 7. Context and content; 8. Common ground and conversational update; 9. Implicature and figurative speech; 10. Assertion and other speech acts; Part III. Meaning as a Philosophical Problem: 11. Meaning and use; 12. Externalism and internalism; 13. Paradox and vagueness.

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Book SynopsisHow did physicians come to dominate the medical profession? Lyn Bennett challenges the seemingly self-evident belief that scientific competence accounts for physicians'' dominance. Instead, she argues that the whole enterprise of learned medicine was, in large measure, facilitated by an intensely classical education that included extensive training in rhetoric, and that this rhetorical training is ultimately responsible for the achievement of professional dominance. Bennett examines previously unexplored connections among writers and genres as well as competing livelihoods and classes. Engaging the histories of rhetoric, medicine, literature, and culture throughout, she goes on to focus specifically on the work of women who professed as well as practiced medicine. Pointing to some of the ways women''s writing shapes realities of body, mind, and spirit as it negotiates social, cultural, and professional ideologies of gender, this book offers an important corrective to some long-held belTrade Review'Lyn Bennett's … detailed new book offers an original perspective on the development of the medical profession in the seventeenth century.' Aurélie Griffin, Modern Language ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction. 'Their plausible rhetoric'; Part I. Rhetoric and Medicine: 1. 'Another mans profession': physicians and clerics; 2. 'Onely the learned': physicians, empirics, and women; 3. 'An eloquent tongue': physicians and patients; Part II. The Woman Writer: 4. 'Publishing those truthes': women and affliction; 5. 'Hard words and rhetoricall phrases': women and learned medicine; 6. 'A bare physician stuft with words': women and domestic healing.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a uniquely accessible, comprehensive, and critical synthesis of theories of linguistic reference and meaning in the 20th century - from Frege and Kripke to the various forms of contemporary two-dimensional semantics - for advanced students as well as mature researchers in semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Descriptivism; 2. The Referentialist Revolution; 3. Three Puzzles Arising from the Rigidity Thesis; 4. Varieties of Descriptivist Responses; 5. Two-Dimensionalism; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisPragmatics the study of language in context, and of how we understand what other people say is a core subject in English language, linguistics, and communication studies. This textbook introduces the key topics in this fast-moving field, including metaphor, irony, politeness, disambiguation, and reference assignment. It walks the reader through the essential theories in pragmatics, including Grice, relevance theory, speech act theory, and politeness theory. Each chapter includes a range of illustrative examples, guiding readers from the basic principles to a thorough understanding of the topics. A dedicated chapter examines how research is conducted in pragmatics, providing students with resources and ideas for developing their own projects. Featuring exercises, a comprehensive glossary, and suggestions for further reading, this book is accessible to beginner undergraduates, including those with no prior knowledge of linguistics. It is an essential resource for courses in English language, English studies, and linguistics.Trade Review'Comprehensive but concise, full of complex concepts described in elegant terms, Pragmatics in English is a must-read for all students of pragmatics, and thoroughly recommended to academics in the field also.' Tim Wharton, Principal Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Brighton'Scott has produced a masterful introduction to the major pragmatic theories from the latter half of the twentieth century. These are presented in a highly accessible way, using fresh examples that enliven the descriptions of these frameworks, and which make it clear how these theories are relevant to students today.' Anne Bezuidenhout, Professor of Philosophy & Linguistics, University of South CarolinaTable of ContentsList of figures; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. What is pragmatics?; 2. Speaker's meaning; 3. Speech act theory; 4. Gricean pragmatics; 5. Pragmatics beyond grice; 6. Relevance-theoretic pragmatics; 7. Applying relevance theory; 8. Figurative language; 9. Politeness; 10. Researching pragmatics; Glossary; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisMost books on linguistic pragmatics overlook the role of emotion in communication. This book faces the challenges head-on by providing an original study of how we communicate our emotions through language, integrating affect in pragmatic theory. Innovative yet accessible, it is essential reading for anyone interested in communication and emotion.Table of Contents1. Introduction: 1.1 Prolegomena; 1.2 Clocks and clouds; 1.3 Overview; 1.3.1 Chapter two; 1.3.2 Chapter three; 1.3.3 Chapter four; 1.3.4 Chapter five; 1.3.5 Chapter six; 1.3.6 Chapter seven; 1.3.7 Chapter eight. 2. Pragmatics and emotion – the challenges: 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Two challenges; 2.2.1 Description versus expression; 2.2.2 Propositions and ineffability; 2.3 Pragmatics. 3. What is emotion?: 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 The early history of emotion studies; 3.2.1 Aristotle to Hume; 3.2.2 Charles Darwin and William James; 3.3 Affective science; 3.3.1 Three views; 3.3.2 Basic emotion; 3.3.3 Constructed emotion; 3.3.4 The view from appraisal theory. 4. From proto-pragmatics to pragmatics: 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Towards expressive meaning; 4.3 Bally's parole; 4.4 Speech acts: how to do things with words (and emotional expressions); 4.5 Alternatives. 5. Relevance theory, non–propositional content and ineffability: 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Relevance; 5.2.1 Theory; 5.2.2 Applications, concepts, procedures; 5.2.3 Ineffability; 5.3 Two notions of relevance? 6. Beyond propositions: 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Affective effects; 6.2.1 Primary affective effects; 6.2.2 Secondary affective effects: emotion and poetry; 6.2.3 Affective effects and persuasion. 7. Emotion and evolution: 7.1 Introduction; 7.2 Creature construction; 7.2.1 Pirot #1: the sea-sponge; 7.2.1 Towards a sensorium: the direct route; 7.2.3 Pirot #2: the lizard and emotion; 7.2.4 Humean projection: the indirect route. 8. Pragmatics and emotion – the challenges revisited: 8.1 Introduction; 8.2 Two challenges; 8.2.1 Expressing and describing; 8.2.2 Propositions and ineffability; 8.3 Pragmatics and emotion – closing remarks.

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Book SynopsisExploring the ethical dimension of Wittgenstein's thought, Iczkovits challenges the view that Wittgenstein had a vision of language and subsequently a vision of ethics, showing how the two are integrated in his philosophical method, and allowing us to reframe traditional problems in moral philosophy considered as external to questions of meaning.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction The Rungs of the 'Ethical' Ladder Philosophical Imaginations On Certainty and Honesty World-Picture and World-View The Reality of What is Said Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book Michael Potter offers a fresh and compelling portrait of the birth of modern analytic philosophy, viewed through the lens of a detailed study of the work of the four philosophers who contributed most to shaping it: Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Frank Ramsey. It covers the remarkable period of discovery that began with the publication of Frege's Begriffsschrift in 1879 and ended with Ramsey's death in 1930. Potterâone of the most influential scholars of this period in philosophyâpresents a deep but accessible account of the break with absolute idealism and neo-Kantianism, and the emergence of approaches that exploited the newly discovered methods in logic. Like his subjects, Potter focusses principally on philosophical logic, philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics, but he also discusses epistemology, meta-ethics, and the philosophy of language. The book is an essential starting point for any student attempting to understand the workTrade Review"The book is an impressive achievement, and it will be an important contribution to the literature on Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ramsey, and the history of early analytic philosophy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learned a lot from it. It is not only a state-of-the-art contribution to scholarship but will also be a valuable textbook for courses on the history of early analytic philosophy, or on the work of one or more of the four philosophers discussed."--David G. Stern, University of Iowa, USA"This book is a significant contribution to studies in the history of analytic philosophy and will benefit upper-level undergraduates studying this material for the first time, as well as active researchers in the area."--James Levine, Trinity College Dublin, IrelandTable of ContentsIntroductionPart I Frege Biography Logic before 1879 Begriffsschrift I: Foundations of logic Begriffsschrift II: Propositional logic Begriffsschrift III: Quantification Begriffsschrift IV: Identity Begriffsschrift V: The ancestral Early philosophy of logic The Hierarchy Grundlagen I: The context principle Grundlagen II: Arithmetical truth Grundlagen III: Numbers Grundlagen IV: The formal project Sense and reference I: Singular terms Sense and reference II: Sentences Sense anad references III: Concept-words Grundgesetze I: Types Grundgesetze II: Extensions The Frege-Hilbert correspondence Later writings Frege's Legacy Part II Russell Biography Bradley Geometry McTaggart German Mathematics Whitehead Moore Leibniz Peano Early logicism Denoting concepts The contradiction On denoting Truth Types Middle logicism Acquaintance Matter Pre-war judgement Facts Late logicism Post-war judgement Neutral monism Russell’s legacy III Wittgenstein Biography Facts Pictures Propositions Sense Wittgenstein’s concept-script Objects Identity Solipsism Ordinary language Minds Logic The metaphysical subject Arithmetic Science Ethics The mystical The legacy of the Tractatus IV Ramsey Biography Truth Knowledge The foundations of mathematics I: Types The foundations of mathematics II: Logicism Universals Degrees of belief Facts and propositions Last papers Ramsey’s legacy Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1959, this book aims to provide a practical introduction to semantics, relating the critical study of language to real-life situation, with a wealth of anecdotes and numerous illustrations drawn from everyday personal predicaments. This book provides much information and much material for profitable discussion, helping to make accessible what can be a highly academic subject comprehensible only to a minority. This book provides a highly valuable foundation for students of linguistics and will provide preparation for further study.Table of ContentsForeword; Part I Understanding and Misunderstanding; I. What are Words For? II. The Key to Misunderstanding III. Some Causes of Misunderstanding IV. Vague Words and Exact Words V. Let Us Look At Some Words VI. Words That Have Changed VII. International Semantics; Part II The Misuse of Language; VIII. Advertising IX. What is Sentimentality? X. What I Tell You Three Time is False XI. Whitewash Language XII. Language of Quarrels XIII. Lying to Ourselves; Part III Literary Semantics; XIV. Rhetoric XV. Metaphor and Association; Index

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Book SynopsisCollected and translated by John B. Thompson, this collection of essays by Paul Ricoeur includes many that had never appeared in English before the volume''s publication in 1981. As comprehensive as it is illuminating, this lucid introduction to Ricoeur''s prolific contributions to sociological theory features his more recent writings on the history of hermeneutics, its central themes and issues, his own constructive position and its implications for sociology, psychoanalysis and history. Presented in a fresh twenty-first-century series livery, and including a specially commissioned preface written by Charles Taylor, illuminating its enduring importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, this classic work has been revived for a new generation of readers.Trade Review'[Ricoeur] does capture a quite crucial point of Peirce's concept of interpretation: its 'synechistic' nature, namely the continuous, non-extrinsic character of the relationship between (to use Ricoeur's terminology) 'tradition' - what a text or other forms of discourse signify (tradit) - and 'interpretation' - what it evokes in the mind of the interpreter.' Francesco Poggiani , Phenomenological ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface to this edition Charles Taylor; Acknowledgements; Editor's introduction; Notes on editing and translating; A response Paul Ricoeur; Part I. Studies in the History of Hermeneutics: 1. The task of hermeneutics; 2. Hermeneutics and the critique of ideology; 3. Phenomenology and hermeneutics; Part II. Studies in the Theory of Interpretation: 4. The hermeneutical function of distanciation; 5. What is a text? Explanation and understanding; 6. Metaphor and the central problem of hermeneutics; 7. Appropriation; Part III. Studies in the Philosophy of Social Science: 8. The model of the text: meaningful action considered as a text; 9. Science and ideology; 10. The question of proof in Freud's psychoanalytic writings; 11. The narrative function; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book considers the work and influence of Charles Sanders Peirce, showing how the concepts and ideas he developed continue to impact and shape contemporary research issues. Written by a team of leading international scholars of semiotics, linguistics and philosophy, this Companion examines the growing impact of Peirce's thought and semiotic theories on a range of different fields. Discussing topics such as narrative, architecture, design, aesthetics and linguistics, the book furthers understanding of the contemporary pertinence of Peircean concepts in theoretical and empirical fashion. The Bloomsbury Companion to Contemporary Peircean Semiotics is the definitive guide to the enduring legacy of one of the world's greatest semioticians.Trade ReviewPeirce’s sign theory is famously both admired and feared. This engaging volume manages to both elegantly explicate its fundamentals, and present an exciting range of its current uses. The contributors are notably international and interdisciplinary, reflecting the future potential of this research area, whose fundamental reach is being newly understood. * Catherine Legg, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Deakin University, Australia *It is hard to imagine a better entry to the realm of Peirce’s triadic semiotic than the fifteen carefully crafted conceptual elaborations and applications of it assembled by Tony Jappy. Prominent international scholars have created a most necessary cartography to explore the state of the semiotic territory on wide-ranging topics such as education, aesthetics, media, technology and science, among others.Their substantial contributions provide an illuminating guide to understand a rich theoretical body that has sometimes been described as difficult to grasp. * Fernando Andacht, Full Professor, Facultad de Información y Comunicación - Universidad de la República, Uruguay *Table of ContentsIntroduction, Tony Jappy (University of Perpignan Via Domitia, France) 1. Peirce in Contemporary Semiotics, Paul Cobley (Middlesex University, UK) 2. Peircean Semiotics in China Today, Xingzhi Zhao (Sichuan University, China) 3. Peirce’s Conception of Semiosis, Tony Jappy (University of Perpignan Via Domitia, France) 4. A Complex System of Sign Classes for Complex Sign Systems, Priscila Borges (University of Brasilia, Brazil) 5. Peirce’s Aesthetic Confession and its Analytical Consequences, Robert E. Innis (University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA) 6. Abduction: The Logic of Creativity, Sara Barrena and Jaime Nubiola (University of Navarra, Spain) 7. Abduction as an Explanatory Strategy in Narrative, Genie Babb and James Liszka (SUNY Plattsburgh, USA) 8. Logic and Dialogue in Peirce's Conception of Argumentation, Augusto Ponzio (Bari University, Italy) 9. A Peircean Semiotics of Technological Artefacts, Bent Sørensen, Martin Thellefsen and Torkild Thellefsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) 10. The Semiotic Nonagon: Peirce’s Categories as Design-Thinking, Claudio Guerri (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) 11. Pragmatism and Semiotics in Teaching Drawing Today, Seymour Simmons (Winthrop University, USA) 12. From Gestures to Habits: A Link Between Semiotics and Pragmatism, (Rossella Fabbrichesi, University of Milan, Italy) 13. Peirce and Welby: For An Ethics of the Man-Sign Relation, Susan Petrilli (University of Bari, Italy) 14. Peircean Semiotic for Language and Linguistics, Jamin Pelkey (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) 15. Co-localization as the Syntax of Multimodal Propositions: An Amazing Peircean Idea and some Implications for the Semiotics of Truth, Frederik Stjernfelt (University of Aalborg, Denmark) Glossary Index

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