Fiona Cowie
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195159783
- eISBN:
- 9780199849529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159783.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book reconsiders the influential nativist position toward the mind. Nativists assert that some concepts, beliefs, or capacities are innate or inborn: “native” to the mind rather than acquired. ...
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This book reconsiders the influential nativist position toward the mind. Nativists assert that some concepts, beliefs, or capacities are innate or inborn: “native” to the mind rather than acquired. The author argues that this view is mistaken, demonstrating that nativism is an unstable amalgam of two quite different—and probably inconsistent—theses about the mind. Unlike empiricists, who postulate domain-neutral learning strategies, nativists insist that some learning tasks require special kinds of skills, and that these skills are hard-wired into our brains at birth. This “faculties hypothesis” finds its modern expression in the views of Noam Chomsky. The author, marshalling recent empirical evidence from developmental psychology, psycholinguistics, computer science, and linguistics, provides a critique of Chomsky's nativism and defends in its place a moderately nativist approach to language acquisition. Also, in contrast to empiricists, who view the mind as simply another natural phenomenon susceptible to scientific explanation, nativists suspect that the mental is inelectably mysterious. The author addresses this second strand in nativist thought, taking on the view articulated by Jerry Fodor and other nativists that learning, particularly concept acquisition, is a fundamentally inexplicable process. She challenges this explanatory pessimism, and argues that concept acquisition is psychologically explicable.Less
This book reconsiders the influential nativist position toward the mind. Nativists assert that some concepts, beliefs, or capacities are innate or inborn: “native” to the mind rather than acquired. The author argues that this view is mistaken, demonstrating that nativism is an unstable amalgam of two quite different—and probably inconsistent—theses about the mind. Unlike empiricists, who postulate domain-neutral learning strategies, nativists insist that some learning tasks require special kinds of skills, and that these skills are hard-wired into our brains at birth. This “faculties hypothesis” finds its modern expression in the views of Noam Chomsky. The author, marshalling recent empirical evidence from developmental psychology, psycholinguistics, computer science, and linguistics, provides a critique of Chomsky's nativism and defends in its place a moderately nativist approach to language acquisition. Also, in contrast to empiricists, who view the mind as simply another natural phenomenon susceptible to scientific explanation, nativists suspect that the mental is inelectably mysterious. The author addresses this second strand in nativist thought, taking on the view articulated by Jerry Fodor and other nativists that learning, particularly concept acquisition, is a fundamentally inexplicable process. She challenges this explanatory pessimism, and argues that concept acquisition is psychologically explicable.
Peter Carruthers, Stephen Laurence, and Stephen Stich (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195179675
- eISBN:
- 9780199869794
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This is the first of three volumes on the subject of innateness. The extent to which the mind is innate is one of the central questions in the human sciences, with important implications for many ...
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This is the first of three volumes on the subject of innateness. The extent to which the mind is innate is one of the central questions in the human sciences, with important implications for many surrounding debates. This book along with the following two volumes provide assess of nativist thought and a definitive reference point for future nativist inquiry. This book is concerned with the fundamental architecture of the mind, addressing such question as: what capacities, processes, representations, biases, and connections are innate? How do these innate elements feed into a story about the development of our mature cognitive capacities, and which of them are shared with other members of the animal kingdom? The book includes an introduction giving some of the background to debates about innateness and introducing each of the subsequent chapters, as well as a consolidated bibliography.Less
This is the first of three volumes on the subject of innateness. The extent to which the mind is innate is one of the central questions in the human sciences, with important implications for many surrounding debates. This book along with the following two volumes provide assess of nativist thought and a definitive reference point for future nativist inquiry. This book is concerned with the fundamental architecture of the mind, addressing such question as: what capacities, processes, representations, biases, and connections are innate? How do these innate elements feed into a story about the development of our mature cognitive capacities, and which of them are shared with other members of the animal kingdom? The book includes an introduction giving some of the background to debates about innateness and introducing each of the subsequent chapters, as well as a consolidated bibliography.
Jean Matter Mandler
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195311839
- eISBN:
- 9780199786770
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311839.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This book presents a new theory of cognitive development in infancy, focusing on the processes through which perceptual information is transformed into concepts. Drawing on extensive research, the ...
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This book presents a new theory of cognitive development in infancy, focusing on the processes through which perceptual information is transformed into concepts. Drawing on extensive research, the book explores preverbal conceptualization and shows how it forms the basis for both thought and language. It also emphasizes the importance of distinguishing automatic perceptual processes from attentive conceptualization, and argues that these two kinds of learning follow different principles, so it is crucial to specify the processes required by a given task. Countering both strong nativist and empiricist views, the book provides a markedly different perspective on early cognitive development, painting a new picture of the abilities and accomplishments of infants and the development of the mind.Less
This book presents a new theory of cognitive development in infancy, focusing on the processes through which perceptual information is transformed into concepts. Drawing on extensive research, the book explores preverbal conceptualization and shows how it forms the basis for both thought and language. It also emphasizes the importance of distinguishing automatic perceptual processes from attentive conceptualization, and argues that these two kinds of learning follow different principles, so it is crucial to specify the processes required by a given task. Countering both strong nativist and empiricist views, the book provides a markedly different perspective on early cognitive development, painting a new picture of the abilities and accomplishments of infants and the development of the mind.
Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195367607
- eISBN:
- 9780199867264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367607.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter reviews the history of the subject to the early twentieth century. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.1 discusses the history of visual science, covering the Greeks; the ...
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This chapter reviews the history of the subject to the early twentieth century. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.1 discusses the history of visual science, covering the Greeks; the Arabs; Europe to the eighteenth century; the microscopic structure of the visual system; the discovery of cortical visual areas; the discovery of perspective; the advent of instruments; and the empiricist-nativist controversy. Section 2.2 deals with the history of binocular vision, covering Ptolemy on binocular vision; Alhazen on binocular vision; Europe to the eighteenth century; the horopter; and the physiology of stereopsis. Section 2.3 discusses the history of visual display systems, covering early display systems; the advent of the stereoscope; stereophotography; and stereoscopic movies.Less
This chapter reviews the history of the subject to the early twentieth century. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.1 discusses the history of visual science, covering the Greeks; the Arabs; Europe to the eighteenth century; the microscopic structure of the visual system; the discovery of cortical visual areas; the discovery of perspective; the advent of instruments; and the empiricist-nativist controversy. Section 2.2 deals with the history of binocular vision, covering Ptolemy on binocular vision; Alhazen on binocular vision; Europe to the eighteenth century; the horopter; and the physiology of stereopsis. Section 2.3 discusses the history of visual display systems, covering early display systems; the advent of the stereoscope; stereophotography; and stereoscopic movies.
Stephen Stich
Peter Carruthers and Stephen Laurence (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332834
- eISBN:
- 9780199868117
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332834.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book is the third of a three-volume set on the innate mind. It provides an assessment of nativist thought and definitive reference point for future inquiry. Nativists have long been interested ...
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This book is the third of a three-volume set on the innate mind. It provides an assessment of nativist thought and definitive reference point for future inquiry. Nativists have long been interested in a variety of foundational topics relating to the study of cognitive development and the historical opposition between nativism and empiricism. Among the issues here are questions about what it is for something to be innate in the first place; how innateness is related to such things as heritability, genetic information, and theories of cognitive development; the status of arguments both for and against nativism; and how best to understand the role of genes in development and inheritance. These issues are all explored in one way or another in this book. But the book also looks to the future. Alongside state-of-the-art discussions of such established nativist concerns as language, number, spatial cognition, and social cognition, this book examines nativist work in a variety of areas where detailed nativist exploration is relatively new, including cultural learning, creativity, economic choice, culture, and morality. The expansion of nativist theorizing into all these new areas shows both the power and the promise of nativist approaches, and points the way to the future.Less
This book is the third of a three-volume set on the innate mind. It provides an assessment of nativist thought and definitive reference point for future inquiry. Nativists have long been interested in a variety of foundational topics relating to the study of cognitive development and the historical opposition between nativism and empiricism. Among the issues here are questions about what it is for something to be innate in the first place; how innateness is related to such things as heritability, genetic information, and theories of cognitive development; the status of arguments both for and against nativism; and how best to understand the role of genes in development and inheritance. These issues are all explored in one way or another in this book. But the book also looks to the future. Alongside state-of-the-art discussions of such established nativist concerns as language, number, spatial cognition, and social cognition, this book examines nativist work in a variety of areas where detailed nativist exploration is relatively new, including cultural learning, creativity, economic choice, culture, and morality. The expansion of nativist theorizing into all these new areas shows both the power and the promise of nativist approaches, and points the way to the future.
Peter Godfrey‐Smith
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332834
- eISBN:
- 9780199868117
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332834.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter examines the idea that innateness can be understood in terms of genetic coding or genetic programming. A distinction is made between characteristics that are coded for or programmed for ...
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This chapter examines the idea that innateness can be understood in terms of genetic coding or genetic programming. A distinction is made between characteristics that are coded for or programmed for by the genes, and characteristics that are not. It is argued that the defensible versions of this distinction line up badly with the idea of innateness. The defensible versions of the idea of genetic coding treat only protein molecules as coded for. The defensible versions of the idea that developmental processes involve something like computation apply only to low-level processes, so the ‘programmed for’ traits are again too low-level to be of interest to nativists. Other versions of the idea that innate traits are ‘programmed to appear’ are in effect a handing-off of the problem to the concept of adaptation or evolutionary design.Less
This chapter examines the idea that innateness can be understood in terms of genetic coding or genetic programming. A distinction is made between characteristics that are coded for or programmed for by the genes, and characteristics that are not. It is argued that the defensible versions of this distinction line up badly with the idea of innateness. The defensible versions of the idea of genetic coding treat only protein molecules as coded for. The defensible versions of the idea that developmental processes involve something like computation apply only to low-level processes, so the ‘programmed for’ traits are again too low-level to be of interest to nativists. Other versions of the idea that innate traits are ‘programmed to appear’ are in effect a handing-off of the problem to the concept of adaptation or evolutionary design.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195124323
- eISBN:
- 9780199784561
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195124324.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter analyzes how millennial, messianic, apocalyptic, and utopian ideas contributed to indigenous peoples’ response to conquest. The case material is diverse — from the preconquest Maya to ...
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This chapter analyzes how millennial, messianic, apocalyptic, and utopian ideas contributed to indigenous peoples’ response to conquest. The case material is diverse — from the preconquest Maya to current movements — with particular emphasis on the War of Mixtón, the Taqui Onqoy movement, the Pueblo Revolt, the Caste War of the Yucatan, and the eighteenth-century Andean rebellions (including those of Túpac Amaru II and Túpac Catari).Less
This chapter analyzes how millennial, messianic, apocalyptic, and utopian ideas contributed to indigenous peoples’ response to conquest. The case material is diverse — from the preconquest Maya to current movements — with particular emphasis on the War of Mixtón, the Taqui Onqoy movement, the Pueblo Revolt, the Caste War of the Yucatan, and the eighteenth-century Andean rebellions (including those of Túpac Amaru II and Túpac Catari).
Michael F. Holt
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195161045
- eISBN:
- 9780199849635
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161045.003.0025
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Southern Whigs' “only chance” was now “a diversion—a change of names”, South Carolina's George S. Bryan concluded two months before the North's crucial October and November elections. John P. Kennedy ...
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Southern Whigs' “only chance” was now “a diversion—a change of names”, South Carolina's George S. Bryan concluded two months before the North's crucial October and November elections. John P. Kennedy agreed. Kennedy's dream appalled most northern Whigs. These dramatically divergent reactions to Know Nothings' success in 1854 outline the millstones between which the Whig party was ground to powder. Most southern and conservative northern Whigs abandoned the Whig organization and flocked to the Know Nothing order to convert it into a new bisectional Union party that could make Millard Fillmore president. In response, northern Whigs of the Sewardite ilk, who continued to fear that Slave Power aggressions might succeed unless the North was rallied against them, declared “war” against Know Nothingism. Almost inevitably, they gravitated toward the emerging Republican party in order to smash the nativists and to prevent Free Soil extremists from dominating it.Less
Southern Whigs' “only chance” was now “a diversion—a change of names”, South Carolina's George S. Bryan concluded two months before the North's crucial October and November elections. John P. Kennedy agreed. Kennedy's dream appalled most northern Whigs. These dramatically divergent reactions to Know Nothings' success in 1854 outline the millstones between which the Whig party was ground to powder. Most southern and conservative northern Whigs abandoned the Whig organization and flocked to the Know Nothing order to convert it into a new bisectional Union party that could make Millard Fillmore president. In response, northern Whigs of the Sewardite ilk, who continued to fear that Slave Power aggressions might succeed unless the North was rallied against them, declared “war” against Know Nothingism. Almost inevitably, they gravitated toward the emerging Republican party in order to smash the nativists and to prevent Free Soil extremists from dominating it.
Steve Bruce
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293927
- eISBN:
- 9780191685019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293927.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines Protestant politics in contemporary America in order to show the constraints and opportunities on religiously informed politics in modern democracies. The chapter first cites ...
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This chapter examines Protestant politics in contemporary America in order to show the constraints and opportunities on religiously informed politics in modern democracies. The chapter first cites that nativist movements are characterized by their lack of stamina. Then it follows to discuss fundamentalism and its central ideas. The next sections then examine the Christian Right (CR) founded by the three conservative activists- Richard Vigurie, Paul Weyrich, and Howard Phillips. The chapter discusses the wants, nature, and impact of the CR, and why there is no CR in Britain. The last section looks into themes of pluralism democracy, and social necessity. The chapter concludes that much of what the Christian Right dislikes about the USA is a consequence of cultural pluralism in a democratic industrial democracy.Less
This chapter examines Protestant politics in contemporary America in order to show the constraints and opportunities on religiously informed politics in modern democracies. The chapter first cites that nativist movements are characterized by their lack of stamina. Then it follows to discuss fundamentalism and its central ideas. The next sections then examine the Christian Right (CR) founded by the three conservative activists- Richard Vigurie, Paul Weyrich, and Howard Phillips. The chapter discusses the wants, nature, and impact of the CR, and why there is no CR in Britain. The last section looks into themes of pluralism democracy, and social necessity. The chapter concludes that much of what the Christian Right dislikes about the USA is a consequence of cultural pluralism in a democratic industrial democracy.
William B. Kurtz
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823267538
- eISBN:
- 9780823272372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823267538.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
Although many Catholics in the North disliked slavery during the antebellum period, they disliked abolitionism even more as a radical extremist movement threatening to tear the nation apart. With the ...
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Although many Catholics in the North disliked slavery during the antebellum period, they disliked abolitionism even more as a radical extremist movement threatening to tear the nation apart. With the exception of some important figures such as Orestes Brownson and Archbishop John Purcell, most Catholic leaders, editors, and civilians continued to oppose emancipation during the war. Prominent anti-abolitionist editors such as Patrick Donahoe and James McMaster attacked any Catholic who dared to support emancipation. Many Catholics believed the abolitionists were generally nativist, radical, and anti-Catholic and that emancipation was only prolonging the war effort. In the end and unlike many northern Protestant churches, the Catholic hierarchy did little to end slavery or care for the freedmen in the post-war South.Less
Although many Catholics in the North disliked slavery during the antebellum period, they disliked abolitionism even more as a radical extremist movement threatening to tear the nation apart. With the exception of some important figures such as Orestes Brownson and Archbishop John Purcell, most Catholic leaders, editors, and civilians continued to oppose emancipation during the war. Prominent anti-abolitionist editors such as Patrick Donahoe and James McMaster attacked any Catholic who dared to support emancipation. Many Catholics believed the abolitionists were generally nativist, radical, and anti-Catholic and that emancipation was only prolonging the war effort. In the end and unlike many northern Protestant churches, the Catholic hierarchy did little to end slavery or care for the freedmen in the post-war South.
David E. Hayes-Bautista
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520292529
- eISBN:
- 9780520966024
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520292529.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Since late 2001 more than fifty percent of the babies born in California have been Latino. When these babies reach adulthood, they will, by sheer force of numbers, influence the course of the Golden ...
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Since late 2001 more than fifty percent of the babies born in California have been Latino. When these babies reach adulthood, they will, by sheer force of numbers, influence the course of the Golden State. This essential study, based on decades of data, paints a vivid and energetic portrait of Latino society in California by providing a wealth of details about work ethic, family strengths, business establishments, and the surprisingly robust health profile that yields an average life expectancy for Latinos five years longer than that of the general population. Spanning one hundred years, this complex, fascinating analysis suggests that the future of Latinos in California will be neither complete assimilation nor unyielding separatism. Instead, the development of a distinctive regional identity will be based on Latino definitions of what it means to be American. This updated edition now provides trend lines through the 2010 Census, as well as information on the 1849 California Constitutional Convention and the ethnogenesis of how Latinos created the society of “Latinos de Estados Unidos” (Latinos in the United States). In addition, two new chapters focus on Latino post-millennials—the first focusing on what it’s like to grow up in a digital world, and the second describing the contestation of Latinos at a national level and the dynamics that transnational relationships have on Latino post-millennials in Mexico and Central America.Less
Since late 2001 more than fifty percent of the babies born in California have been Latino. When these babies reach adulthood, they will, by sheer force of numbers, influence the course of the Golden State. This essential study, based on decades of data, paints a vivid and energetic portrait of Latino society in California by providing a wealth of details about work ethic, family strengths, business establishments, and the surprisingly robust health profile that yields an average life expectancy for Latinos five years longer than that of the general population. Spanning one hundred years, this complex, fascinating analysis suggests that the future of Latinos in California will be neither complete assimilation nor unyielding separatism. Instead, the development of a distinctive regional identity will be based on Latino definitions of what it means to be American. This updated edition now provides trend lines through the 2010 Census, as well as information on the 1849 California Constitutional Convention and the ethnogenesis of how Latinos created the society of “Latinos de Estados Unidos” (Latinos in the United States). In addition, two new chapters focus on Latino post-millennials—the first focusing on what it’s like to grow up in a digital world, and the second describing the contestation of Latinos at a national level and the dynamics that transnational relationships have on Latino post-millennials in Mexico and Central America.
Fiona Cowie
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195159783
- eISBN:
- 9780199849529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159783.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
In contrast to the empiricist view, which states how all learning involves general strategies that can be applied in various fields and learning from experience, the nativist view explains how the ...
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In contrast to the empiricist view, which states how all learning involves general strategies that can be applied in various fields and learning from experience, the nativist view explains how the acquisition of some knowledge cannot be associated with the domain-neutral empiricist model. In 1960, Noam Chomsky made his claims regarding how human beings are innately bestowed of knowledge of natural languages. This chapter attempts to provide an overview of Chomsky's explanation of language acquisition and how this has once again gained the attention of both American Structuralist linguistics and psychological behaviorism. Looking into such would allow the establishment of a taxonomic framework for a better examination of linguistic nativism.Less
In contrast to the empiricist view, which states how all learning involves general strategies that can be applied in various fields and learning from experience, the nativist view explains how the acquisition of some knowledge cannot be associated with the domain-neutral empiricist model. In 1960, Noam Chomsky made his claims regarding how human beings are innately bestowed of knowledge of natural languages. This chapter attempts to provide an overview of Chomsky's explanation of language acquisition and how this has once again gained the attention of both American Structuralist linguistics and psychological behaviorism. Looking into such would allow the establishment of a taxonomic framework for a better examination of linguistic nativism.
Fiona Cowie
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195159783
- eISBN:
- 9780199849529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159783.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The author is able to point out the weak points of the a posteriori argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS) through drawing attention to how such is not able to supply empirical support for ...
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The author is able to point out the weak points of the a posteriori argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS) through drawing attention to how such is not able to supply empirical support for their claims regarding types of available linguistic evidence and how the credibility of the APS is undermined by how nativists rely on unsupported intuitions about children's knowledge. Also, the author gives focus to how the APS provided an evaluation regarding the possible empiricist explanation of how children may learn language from available data. The APS was not able to fully make use of the resources which are available to the empiricist learner, and also attributed too much value to the difficulties that an empiricist learner may encounter in learning about rules of syntax. This chapter thus takes on the argument of the “Logical Problem of Language Acquisition.”Less
The author is able to point out the weak points of the a posteriori argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS) through drawing attention to how such is not able to supply empirical support for their claims regarding types of available linguistic evidence and how the credibility of the APS is undermined by how nativists rely on unsupported intuitions about children's knowledge. Also, the author gives focus to how the APS provided an evaluation regarding the possible empiricist explanation of how children may learn language from available data. The APS was not able to fully make use of the resources which are available to the empiricist learner, and also attributed too much value to the difficulties that an empiricist learner may encounter in learning about rules of syntax. This chapter thus takes on the argument of the “Logical Problem of Language Acquisition.”
William Lyons
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198752226
- eISBN:
- 9780191695087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198752226.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
This chapter is concerned with the intentionality of sensory experiences and uses early infancy as the main source of examples. It reflects on the ‘bogey of consciousnesses’ for recent debates on ...
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This chapter is concerned with the intentionality of sensory experiences and uses early infancy as the main source of examples. It reflects on the ‘bogey of consciousnesses’ for recent debates on intentionality that have treated consciousness as if it were a bad philosophical smell. The first section points out that it is uncontroversial to consider consciousness as a product of the evolution of species. The second section tries to remove the ‘bogey’ out of consciousness by suggesting a mode of dualism in which consciousness and brain states are two distinct ‘higher-level’ modes of the physical. The third section offers two traditional answers to explain how one comes to know that sensory experiences are of the world outside: the nativist solution, and the empiricist solution. The last sections investigate the possibility that it is the ability of the subject of sensory experiences to associate, in a single tranche of awareness, a sensory experience, first with behaviour, then with other sensory experiences, that produces new layers of intentionality.Less
This chapter is concerned with the intentionality of sensory experiences and uses early infancy as the main source of examples. It reflects on the ‘bogey of consciousnesses’ for recent debates on intentionality that have treated consciousness as if it were a bad philosophical smell. The first section points out that it is uncontroversial to consider consciousness as a product of the evolution of species. The second section tries to remove the ‘bogey’ out of consciousness by suggesting a mode of dualism in which consciousness and brain states are two distinct ‘higher-level’ modes of the physical. The third section offers two traditional answers to explain how one comes to know that sensory experiences are of the world outside: the nativist solution, and the empiricist solution. The last sections investigate the possibility that it is the ability of the subject of sensory experiences to associate, in a single tranche of awareness, a sensory experience, first with behaviour, then with other sensory experiences, that produces new layers of intentionality.
John Hultgren
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780816694976
- eISBN:
- 9781452952345
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816694976.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter reviews responses to environmental restrictionism, identifying the main discourse on which opponents have relied. Finding that while opposition to restrictionism is varied, generally ...
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This chapter reviews responses to environmental restrictionism, identifying the main discourse on which opponents have relied. Finding that while opposition to restrictionism is varied, generally critics adopted a discourse of global environmental justice founded on an opposition between the deterritorialized realities of nature and the territorialized realities of sovereignty. Their arguments usually thrust that sovereignty is inherently anthropocentric and exclusionary, whereas nature is an inherently borderless, emancipatory force.This chapter is sympathetic to the global environmental justice discourse. It argues that it is politically disabling on three interrelated grounds: it pays insufficient attention to the discursive production of nature; it levels a critique of environmental restrictionism that is excessively reliant on a portrayal of individual restrictionists as racist, and it introduces a counter discourse that rests on an ahistorical and oversimplified vision of immigrants as “noble savages,” which prevents immigrants from full inclusion in environmental politics.It concludes by suggesting that though the activists who oppose restrictionism effectively respond to its iterations, their current efforts are incapable of combating the more politically savvy discourse of ecocommunitarianism. An alternative discursive intervention is needed to destabilize the seemingly beneficent articulations between nature and sovereignty on which ecocommunitarian restrictionists rely.Less
This chapter reviews responses to environmental restrictionism, identifying the main discourse on which opponents have relied. Finding that while opposition to restrictionism is varied, generally critics adopted a discourse of global environmental justice founded on an opposition between the deterritorialized realities of nature and the territorialized realities of sovereignty. Their arguments usually thrust that sovereignty is inherently anthropocentric and exclusionary, whereas nature is an inherently borderless, emancipatory force.This chapter is sympathetic to the global environmental justice discourse. It argues that it is politically disabling on three interrelated grounds: it pays insufficient attention to the discursive production of nature; it levels a critique of environmental restrictionism that is excessively reliant on a portrayal of individual restrictionists as racist, and it introduces a counter discourse that rests on an ahistorical and oversimplified vision of immigrants as “noble savages,” which prevents immigrants from full inclusion in environmental politics.It concludes by suggesting that though the activists who oppose restrictionism effectively respond to its iterations, their current efforts are incapable of combating the more politically savvy discourse of ecocommunitarianism. An alternative discursive intervention is needed to destabilize the seemingly beneficent articulations between nature and sovereignty on which ecocommunitarian restrictionists rely.
Hector Amaya
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814708453
- eISBN:
- 9780814723838
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814708453.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Drawing on contemporary conflicts between Latino/as and anti-immigrant forces, this book illustrates the limitations of liberalism as expressed through U.S. media channels. Inspired by Latin American ...
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Drawing on contemporary conflicts between Latino/as and anti-immigrant forces, this book illustrates the limitations of liberalism as expressed through U.S. media channels. Inspired by Latin American critical scholarship on the “coloniality of power,” the book demonstrates that nativists use the privileges associated with citizenship to accumulate power. That power is deployed to aggressively shape politics, culture, and the law, effectively undermining Latino/as who are marked by the ethno-racial and linguistic difference that nativists love to hate. Yet these social characteristics present crucial challenges to the political, legal, and cultural practices that define citizenship. The book examines the role of ethnicity and language in shaping the mediated public sphere through cases ranging from the participation of Latino/as in the Iraqi war and pro-immigration reform marches to labor laws restricting Latino/a participation in English-language media and news coverage of undocumented immigrant detention centers. It demonstrates that the evolution of the idea of citizenship in the United States and the political and cultural practices that define it are intricately intertwined with nativism.Less
Drawing on contemporary conflicts between Latino/as and anti-immigrant forces, this book illustrates the limitations of liberalism as expressed through U.S. media channels. Inspired by Latin American critical scholarship on the “coloniality of power,” the book demonstrates that nativists use the privileges associated with citizenship to accumulate power. That power is deployed to aggressively shape politics, culture, and the law, effectively undermining Latino/as who are marked by the ethno-racial and linguistic difference that nativists love to hate. Yet these social characteristics present crucial challenges to the political, legal, and cultural practices that define citizenship. The book examines the role of ethnicity and language in shaping the mediated public sphere through cases ranging from the participation of Latino/as in the Iraqi war and pro-immigration reform marches to labor laws restricting Latino/a participation in English-language media and news coverage of undocumented immigrant detention centers. It demonstrates that the evolution of the idea of citizenship in the United States and the political and cultural practices that define it are intricately intertwined with nativism.
Joshua L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195336993
- eISBN:
- 9780199893997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336993.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
The introduction presents the broad claim of the book, that massive demographic changes to U.S. residents due to imperial expansionism and immigration infused what we know today as U.S. literary ...
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The introduction presents the broad claim of the book, that massive demographic changes to U.S. residents due to imperial expansionism and immigration infused what we know today as U.S. literary modernism with tensions around language politics. Such changes led to public debates and modifications in governmental policy regarding the unofficial status of English in the United States, specifically, whether a distinctive form of U.S. English existed or should exist and whether new Americans should be compelled to learn English. While the “Americanization” projects and anti‐German mob violence of the World War I era are generally well known, they have not been understood to play a role in a continuous battle over language in U.S. history and culture. Sharper awareness of the interrelations between these public, governmental, and artistic processes illuminates each, particularly how the literary narratives that we now know as experimental modernism were influenced by these debates and, in turn, how their innovative techniques critique nationalist equations of a putatively “standard” speech form and U.S. citizenship.Less
The introduction presents the broad claim of the book, that massive demographic changes to U.S. residents due to imperial expansionism and immigration infused what we know today as U.S. literary modernism with tensions around language politics. Such changes led to public debates and modifications in governmental policy regarding the unofficial status of English in the United States, specifically, whether a distinctive form of U.S. English existed or should exist and whether new Americans should be compelled to learn English. While the “Americanization” projects and anti‐German mob violence of the World War I era are generally well known, they have not been understood to play a role in a continuous battle over language in U.S. history and culture. Sharper awareness of the interrelations between these public, governmental, and artistic processes illuminates each, particularly how the literary narratives that we now know as experimental modernism were influenced by these debates and, in turn, how their innovative techniques critique nationalist equations of a putatively “standard” speech form and U.S. citizenship.
Kelly S. Mix, Janellen Huttenlocher, and Susan Cohen Levine
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195123005
- eISBN:
- 9780199893959
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195123005.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter outlines the history of research on quantitative development and identifies empirical questions and theoretical issues that have emerged from this literature. The review begins with ...
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This chapter outlines the history of research on quantitative development and identifies empirical questions and theoretical issues that have emerged from this literature. The review begins with Piaget's seminal work on early childhood numeracy. It then summarizes the major criticisms of this work, and identifies ways in which it set the stage for demonstrations of quantitative reasoning in young children and infants. Next, a description is provided of the major issues addressed in each of the subsequent chapters; issues that emerge from the tension between Piaget's rather pessimistic view of early childhood numeracy and more optimistic accounts based on recent findings with infants.Less
This chapter outlines the history of research on quantitative development and identifies empirical questions and theoretical issues that have emerged from this literature. The review begins with Piaget's seminal work on early childhood numeracy. It then summarizes the major criticisms of this work, and identifies ways in which it set the stage for demonstrations of quantitative reasoning in young children and infants. Next, a description is provided of the major issues addressed in each of the subsequent chapters; issues that emerge from the tension between Piaget's rather pessimistic view of early childhood numeracy and more optimistic accounts based on recent findings with infants.
Fei Xu, Kathryn Dewar, and Amy Perfors
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199216895
- eISBN:
- 9780191696039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216895.003.0011
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
The authors in this chapter focus on a case study of how object representations in infants interact with early word learning, particularly the nature of the so-called ‘shape bias’. A short review of ...
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The authors in this chapter focus on a case study of how object representations in infants interact with early word learning, particularly the nature of the so-called ‘shape bias’. A short review of the controversies in this subfield is used to illustrate the two dominant views of cognitive development, which can be roughly classified as nativist or empiricist. Also presented are theoretical arguments and new empirical evidence for a rational constructivist view of cognitive development. The authors' goal in this chapter is to argue for a new approach to the study of cognitive development, one that is strongly committed to both innate concepts and representations, as well as powerful inductive learning mechanisms. In addition to discussing the ‘shape bias’ and how it relates to object representations, generality of the approach is briefly discussed.Less
The authors in this chapter focus on a case study of how object representations in infants interact with early word learning, particularly the nature of the so-called ‘shape bias’. A short review of the controversies in this subfield is used to illustrate the two dominant views of cognitive development, which can be roughly classified as nativist or empiricist. Also presented are theoretical arguments and new empirical evidence for a rational constructivist view of cognitive development. The authors' goal in this chapter is to argue for a new approach to the study of cognitive development, one that is strongly committed to both innate concepts and representations, as well as powerful inductive learning mechanisms. In addition to discussing the ‘shape bias’ and how it relates to object representations, generality of the approach is briefly discussed.
T. Jeremy Gunn
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199860371
- eISBN:
- 9780199950164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860371.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues that modern understandings of the historical origins of the Establishment Clause largely reflect one of two basic understandings of the origins of the clause: one that promotes ...
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This chapter argues that modern understandings of the historical origins of the Establishment Clause largely reflect one of two basic understandings of the origins of the clause: one that promotes the separation of church and state, and a second that favors governmental promotion of religious activity in the “public square.” The historical evidence suggests that through most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the term “separation of church and state” was broadly accepted by Americans as a constitutional value and constitutional ideal. This evidence draws into question Professor Philip Hamburger’s assertion that the term largely originated with nativists, “Know-Nothings,” and other anti-Catholics. Even the “Blaine amendment” controversy of the 1870s did not divide Americans with regard to the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state does not mean that religion will be removed from the public square, it means only that the government should not be involved in promoting religion. The Everson v. Board of Education decision was not innovative, but simply adopted widely accepted assumptions of the time.Less
This chapter argues that modern understandings of the historical origins of the Establishment Clause largely reflect one of two basic understandings of the origins of the clause: one that promotes the separation of church and state, and a second that favors governmental promotion of religious activity in the “public square.” The historical evidence suggests that through most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the term “separation of church and state” was broadly accepted by Americans as a constitutional value and constitutional ideal. This evidence draws into question Professor Philip Hamburger’s assertion that the term largely originated with nativists, “Know-Nothings,” and other anti-Catholics. Even the “Blaine amendment” controversy of the 1870s did not divide Americans with regard to the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state does not mean that religion will be removed from the public square, it means only that the government should not be involved in promoting religion. The Everson v. Board of Education decision was not innovative, but simply adopted widely accepted assumptions of the time.
