Anandi Hattiangadi
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199219025
- eISBN:
- 9780191711879
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199219025.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This book provides a response to the argument for meaning scepticism set out by Saul Kripke in Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Kripke asks what makes it the case that anybody ever means ...
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This book provides a response to the argument for meaning scepticism set out by Saul Kripke in Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Kripke asks what makes it the case that anybody ever means anything by any word, and argues that there are no facts of the matter as to what anybody ever means. Kripke's argument has inspired a lively and extended debate in the philosophy of language, as it raises some of the most fundamental issues in the field: namely, the reality, privacy, and normativity of meaning. The book argues that in order to achieve the radical conclusion that there are no facts as to what a person means by a word, the sceptic must rely on the thesis that meaning is normative, and that this thesis fails. Since any ‘sceptical solution’ to the sceptical problem is irremediably incoherent, the book concludes that there must be a fact of the matter about what we mean. In addition to providing an overview of the debate on meaning and content scepticism, this book presents a detailed discussion of the contributions made by Simon Blackburn, Paul Boghossian, Robert Brandom, Fred Dretske, John McDowell, and Crispin Wright, among others, to the controversy surrounding Kripke's argument. The issues considered include the normativity of meaning and its relation to the normativity of moral judgments, reductive and non-reductive theories of meaning, deflationism about truth and meaning, and the privacy of meaning.Less
This book provides a response to the argument for meaning scepticism set out by Saul Kripke in Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Kripke asks what makes it the case that anybody ever means anything by any word, and argues that there are no facts of the matter as to what anybody ever means. Kripke's argument has inspired a lively and extended debate in the philosophy of language, as it raises some of the most fundamental issues in the field: namely, the reality, privacy, and normativity of meaning. The book argues that in order to achieve the radical conclusion that there are no facts as to what a person means by a word, the sceptic must rely on the thesis that meaning is normative, and that this thesis fails. Since any ‘sceptical solution’ to the sceptical problem is irremediably incoherent, the book concludes that there must be a fact of the matter about what we mean. In addition to providing an overview of the debate on meaning and content scepticism, this book presents a detailed discussion of the contributions made by Simon Blackburn, Paul Boghossian, Robert Brandom, Fred Dretske, John McDowell, and Crispin Wright, among others, to the controversy surrounding Kripke's argument. The issues considered include the normativity of meaning and its relation to the normativity of moral judgments, reductive and non-reductive theories of meaning, deflationism about truth and meaning, and the privacy of meaning.
Jan Westerhoff
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199285044
- eISBN:
- 9780191713699
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199285044.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The concept of an ontological category is central to metaphysics. Metaphysicians argue about which category an object should be assigned to, whether one category can be reduced to another one, or ...
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The concept of an ontological category is central to metaphysics. Metaphysicians argue about which category an object should be assigned to, whether one category can be reduced to another one, or whether there might be different equally adequate systems of categorization. Answers to these questions presuppose a clear understanding of what precisely an ontological category is, an issue which is rarely addressed. This book presents an analysis both of the use made of ontological categories in the metaphysical literature, and of various attempts at defining them. It also develops a new theory of ontological categories which implies that there will be no unique system, and that the ontological category an object belongs to is not an essential property of that object. Systems of ontological categories are structures imposed on the world, rather than reflections of a deep metaphysical reality already present.Less
The concept of an ontological category is central to metaphysics. Metaphysicians argue about which category an object should be assigned to, whether one category can be reduced to another one, or whether there might be different equally adequate systems of categorization. Answers to these questions presuppose a clear understanding of what precisely an ontological category is, an issue which is rarely addressed. This book presents an analysis both of the use made of ontological categories in the metaphysical literature, and of various attempts at defining them. It also develops a new theory of ontological categories which implies that there will be no unique system, and that the ontological category an object belongs to is not an essential property of that object. Systems of ontological categories are structures imposed on the world, rather than reflections of a deep metaphysical reality already present.
Michael Dummett
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207275
- eISBN:
- 9780191708749
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207275.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book sets out views about some of the deepest questions in philosophy. The fundamental question of metaphysics is: what does reality consist of? To answer this it is necessary to say what kinds ...
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This book sets out views about some of the deepest questions in philosophy. The fundamental question of metaphysics is: what does reality consist of? To answer this it is necessary to say what kinds of fact obtain, and what constitutes their holding good. Facts correspond with true propositions, or true thoughts: when we know which propositions, or thoughts, in general, are true, we shall know what facts there are in general. This book considers the relation between metaphysics, our conception of the constitution of reality, and semantics, the theory that explains how statements are determined as true or as false in terms of their composition out of their constituent expressions. The book investigates the two concepts on which the bridge that connects semantics to metaphysics rests, meaning and truth, and the role of justification in a theory of meaning. It then examines the special semantic and metaphysical issues that arise with relation to time and tense, putting forward the author's controversial view of reality as indeterminate: there may be no fact of the matter about whether an object does or does not have a given property. We have to relinquish our deep-held realist understanding of language, the illusion that we know what it is for any proposition that we can frame to be true independently of our having any means of recognizing its truth, and accept that truth depends on our capacity to apprehend it. The book concludes with a chapter about God.Less
This book sets out views about some of the deepest questions in philosophy. The fundamental question of metaphysics is: what does reality consist of? To answer this it is necessary to say what kinds of fact obtain, and what constitutes their holding good. Facts correspond with true propositions, or true thoughts: when we know which propositions, or thoughts, in general, are true, we shall know what facts there are in general. This book considers the relation between metaphysics, our conception of the constitution of reality, and semantics, the theory that explains how statements are determined as true or as false in terms of their composition out of their constituent expressions. The book investigates the two concepts on which the bridge that connects semantics to metaphysics rests, meaning and truth, and the role of justification in a theory of meaning. It then examines the special semantic and metaphysical issues that arise with relation to time and tense, putting forward the author's controversial view of reality as indeterminate: there may be no fact of the matter about whether an object does or does not have a given property. We have to relinquish our deep-held realist understanding of language, the illusion that we know what it is for any proposition that we can frame to be true independently of our having any means of recognizing its truth, and accept that truth depends on our capacity to apprehend it. The book concludes with a chapter about God.
John Gibson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199299522
- eISBN:
- 9780191714900
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299522.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Literature is a source of understanding and insight into the human condition. Yet ever since Aristotle, philosophers have struggled to provide a plausible account of how this can be the case. For ...
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Literature is a source of understanding and insight into the human condition. Yet ever since Aristotle, philosophers have struggled to provide a plausible account of how this can be the case. For surely the fictionality, the sheer invented character, of the literary work means that literature concerns itself not with the real world but with other worlds — what are commonly called fictional worlds. How is it, then, that fictions can tell us something of consequence about reality? This book offers a novel and intriguing account of the relationship between literature and life, and shows that literature's great cultural and cognitive value is inseparable from its fictionality and inventiveness.Less
Literature is a source of understanding and insight into the human condition. Yet ever since Aristotle, philosophers have struggled to provide a plausible account of how this can be the case. For surely the fictionality, the sheer invented character, of the literary work means that literature concerns itself not with the real world but with other worlds — what are commonly called fictional worlds. How is it, then, that fictions can tell us something of consequence about reality? This book offers a novel and intriguing account of the relationship between literature and life, and shows that literature's great cultural and cognitive value is inseparable from its fictionality and inventiveness.
Paul Horwich
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268900
- eISBN:
- 9780191708459
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268900.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Language
This book offers a distinctive approach to the core problems of philosophy. It presents a broad and unified deflationism that encompasses language, thought, facts, knowledge, and the relations ...
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This book offers a distinctive approach to the core problems of philosophy. It presents a broad and unified deflationism that encompasses language, thought, facts, knowledge, and the relations between them. The story begins with a (‘minimalist’) view of truth as far less profound and substantial than has usually been assumed. Our grasp of this concept stems entirely from our regarding ‘It is true that dogs bark’ as equivalent to ‘Dogs bark’, and similarly in the case of all other statements. There's nothing more to truth than that! This idea turns out to be of fundamental importance throughout philosophy. In the first instance it paves the way to an account of meaning as use, whereby the sense of each word-type is given by its basic patterns of deployment rather than by its association with a feature of the non-linguistic world. And the combination of deflated truth and ‘meaning as use’ then yields a perspective from which the long-standing metaphysical and epistemological debates between forms of ‘realism’ and ‘anti-realism’ must be reconceived. We are able to see that the positions typically adopted in these debates are all defective — contrived products of the mistaken assumption that reality, together with our representations of it, must exhibit a narrow uniformity, and that deviations from the norm would be intolerably ‘weird’.Less
This book offers a distinctive approach to the core problems of philosophy. It presents a broad and unified deflationism that encompasses language, thought, facts, knowledge, and the relations between them. The story begins with a (‘minimalist’) view of truth as far less profound and substantial than has usually been assumed. Our grasp of this concept stems entirely from our regarding ‘It is true that dogs bark’ as equivalent to ‘Dogs bark’, and similarly in the case of all other statements. There's nothing more to truth than that! This idea turns out to be of fundamental importance throughout philosophy. In the first instance it paves the way to an account of meaning as use, whereby the sense of each word-type is given by its basic patterns of deployment rather than by its association with a feature of the non-linguistic world. And the combination of deflated truth and ‘meaning as use’ then yields a perspective from which the long-standing metaphysical and epistemological debates between forms of ‘realism’ and ‘anti-realism’ must be reconceived. We are able to see that the positions typically adopted in these debates are all defective — contrived products of the mistaken assumption that reality, together with our representations of it, must exhibit a narrow uniformity, and that deviations from the norm would be intolerably ‘weird’.
Andreas Herberg‐Rothe
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199202690
- eISBN:
- 9780191707834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202690.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
What Clausewitz says about the interactions to the extreme provides the basis for the assumption that he is the theorist of destruction and the precursor of the idea of total war. But these ...
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What Clausewitz says about the interactions to the extreme provides the basis for the assumption that he is the theorist of destruction and the precursor of the idea of total war. But these interpretations should not be countered by introducing a total shift between the concept and the reality of war, as it has so often happened in the history of Clausewitz's interpretations. This chapter emphasizes that in his first chapter, the three interactions to the extreme are balanced by three tendencies which lead to the limitation of war. The three interactions to the extreme do not describe the whole of war, but they are nevertheless tendencies in each war, which are countered by opposing tendencies. The chapter explores the assumption that the striving powers ‘behind’ these different interacting tendencies in war are violence, fear, and power.Less
What Clausewitz says about the interactions to the extreme provides the basis for the assumption that he is the theorist of destruction and the precursor of the idea of total war. But these interpretations should not be countered by introducing a total shift between the concept and the reality of war, as it has so often happened in the history of Clausewitz's interpretations. This chapter emphasizes that in his first chapter, the three interactions to the extreme are balanced by three tendencies which lead to the limitation of war. The three interactions to the extreme do not describe the whole of war, but they are nevertheless tendencies in each war, which are countered by opposing tendencies. The chapter explores the assumption that the striving powers ‘behind’ these different interacting tendencies in war are violence, fear, and power.
Richard Gaskin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199239450
- eISBN:
- 9780191716997
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239450.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book is about the philosophy of language. It analyses what is distinctive about sentences and the propositions they express — what marks them off from mere lists of words and mere aggregates of ...
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This book is about the philosophy of language. It analyses what is distinctive about sentences and the propositions they express — what marks them off from mere lists of words and mere aggregates of word-meanings respectively. Since it identifies the world with all the true and false propositions, the book's account of the unity of the proposition has significant implications for our understanding of the nature of reality. The book argues that the unity of the proposition is constituted by a certain infinitistic structure known in the tradition as ‘Bradley's regress’. Usually, Bradley's regress has been regarded as vicious, but the book argues that it is the metaphysical ground of the propositional unity, and gives us an important insight into the fundamental make-up of the world.Less
This book is about the philosophy of language. It analyses what is distinctive about sentences and the propositions they express — what marks them off from mere lists of words and mere aggregates of word-meanings respectively. Since it identifies the world with all the true and false propositions, the book's account of the unity of the proposition has significant implications for our understanding of the nature of reality. The book argues that the unity of the proposition is constituted by a certain infinitistic structure known in the tradition as ‘Bradley's regress’. Usually, Bradley's regress has been regarded as vicious, but the book argues that it is the metaphysical ground of the propositional unity, and gives us an important insight into the fundamental make-up of the world.
Diana G. Tumminia
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195176759
- eISBN:
- 9780199835720
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195176758.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. ...
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This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. From the theoretical perspective of the social construction of reality, it analyzes the way members create their own social world of contact with extraterrestrials. Based on lengthy field research, the everyday life and history of one of America’s oldest contactee groups is described. The text explicates the lives of the founders, Ernest and Ruth Norman, who claimed to be Space Brothers from higher realms of knowledge that offer a celestial science to Earth. Max Weber’s theory of charisma is used to analyze Ruth Norman, who led the group as Uriel the Archangel, Goddess of Love. Since Unarius had a failed millennial prophecy of spaceships landing in 2001, the author compares them to the group Leon Festinger studied in the 1950s. In looking at the interpretive methods Unarius used to explain success rather than failure, the text discusses the reasons why prophecies rarely fail in the eyes of believers.Less
This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. From the theoretical perspective of the social construction of reality, it analyzes the way members create their own social world of contact with extraterrestrials. Based on lengthy field research, the everyday life and history of one of America’s oldest contactee groups is described. The text explicates the lives of the founders, Ernest and Ruth Norman, who claimed to be Space Brothers from higher realms of knowledge that offer a celestial science to Earth. Max Weber’s theory of charisma is used to analyze Ruth Norman, who led the group as Uriel the Archangel, Goddess of Love. Since Unarius had a failed millennial prophecy of spaceships landing in 2001, the author compares them to the group Leon Festinger studied in the 1950s. In looking at the interpretive methods Unarius used to explain success rather than failure, the text discusses the reasons why prophecies rarely fail in the eyes of believers.
Eugene Subbotsky
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195393873
- eISBN:
- 9780199776979
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393873.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
In children, magical thinking has traditionally been viewed as an immature form of thinking that is destined to diminish with age. With some exceptions, the study of magical thinking and magical ...
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In children, magical thinking has traditionally been viewed as an immature form of thinking that is destined to diminish with age. With some exceptions, the study of magical thinking and magical beliefs in adults has mostly remained on the fringes of psychology, along with the study of such topics as superstitions, anomalistic beliefs, and parapsychology. In this book, I argue that the role of magical thinking in child development and in adult life should be reconsidered. In children, magical thinking is an important part of cognitive development. In adults, magical thinking and magical beliefs assist individuals as they struggle with situations that are beyond rational control. There is evidence that suggestive techniques used in politics, commercial advertising, and psychotherapies target magical thinking and magical beliefs. In this book, the mechanisms and development of magical thinking and beliefs throughout the lifespan are discussed.Less
In children, magical thinking has traditionally been viewed as an immature form of thinking that is destined to diminish with age. With some exceptions, the study of magical thinking and magical beliefs in adults has mostly remained on the fringes of psychology, along with the study of such topics as superstitions, anomalistic beliefs, and parapsychology. In this book, I argue that the role of magical thinking in child development and in adult life should be reconsidered. In children, magical thinking is an important part of cognitive development. In adults, magical thinking and magical beliefs assist individuals as they struggle with situations that are beyond rational control. There is evidence that suggestive techniques used in politics, commercial advertising, and psychotherapies target magical thinking and magical beliefs. In this book, the mechanisms and development of magical thinking and beliefs throughout the lifespan are discussed.
Jerry L. Walls
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195113020
- eISBN:
- 9780199834815
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195113020.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The arguments presented in the book are briefly summarized, pointing out that what has been defended is a Christian vision of reality (focusing on heaven) that is profoundly more hopeful than that of ...
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The arguments presented in the book are briefly summarized, pointing out that what has been defended is a Christian vision of reality (focusing on heaven) that is profoundly more hopeful than that of secular accounts, whether modern or postmodern. The conclusion is that we profoundly need to recover the hope (belief) of heaven in order to recover our very humanity.Less
The arguments presented in the book are briefly summarized, pointing out that what has been defended is a Christian vision of reality (focusing on heaven) that is profoundly more hopeful than that of secular accounts, whether modern or postmodern. The conclusion is that we profoundly need to recover the hope (belief) of heaven in order to recover our very humanity.
Marcia Cavell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199287086
- eISBN:
- 9780191603921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199287082.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter discusses Freud’s idea of ‘the reality principle’ as in effect containing an analysis of the necessary conditions for prepositional thought. In calling ‘the setting-up of the reality ...
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This chapter discusses Freud’s idea of ‘the reality principle’ as in effect containing an analysis of the necessary conditions for prepositional thought. In calling ‘the setting-up of the reality principle’ a ‘momentous step’, Freud is explicitly contrasting judgments about things as they are with wishes, or expressions of personal taste, or sentences that look like judgments about what is but that are really expressions of disguised wishes. With judgment, come the capacities for reality testing, and also for fantasy, self-deception, delusion, and illusion. Attempts by psychoanalysts, notably Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion, to derive prepositional thought from fantasies are criticized.Less
This chapter discusses Freud’s idea of ‘the reality principle’ as in effect containing an analysis of the necessary conditions for prepositional thought. In calling ‘the setting-up of the reality principle’ a ‘momentous step’, Freud is explicitly contrasting judgments about things as they are with wishes, or expressions of personal taste, or sentences that look like judgments about what is but that are really expressions of disguised wishes. With judgment, come the capacities for reality testing, and also for fantasy, self-deception, delusion, and illusion. Attempts by psychoanalysts, notably Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion, to derive prepositional thought from fantasies are criticized.
Rumina Sethi
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183396
- eISBN:
- 9780191674020
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183396.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This book focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ ...
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This book focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ histories by treating historical fiction as the literary dimension of nationalist ideology. It traces nationalism from its abstract underpinnings to its concrete manifestation in historical fiction which underwrites the Indian freedom struggle. The construction of identity through mythicized conceptions of India is examined in detail through Raja Rao's first novel, Kanthapura. The key concept governing the subject is that of representation. Since the ‘fictional reality’ of the nation is a much-debated issue, the study examines how history slides into fiction. The book shows how orientalists, nationalists, Marxists, subalternists, and poststructuralists, have all, in their own celebratory ways, used the disenfranchised sub-proletariat in their works. What is found useful in poststructuralist practices, however, is that subaltern identities are imbued with heterogeneity, thus splitting open an authoritarian and reactionary nationalism, and a continuing neo-colonialism.Less
This book focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ histories by treating historical fiction as the literary dimension of nationalist ideology. It traces nationalism from its abstract underpinnings to its concrete manifestation in historical fiction which underwrites the Indian freedom struggle. The construction of identity through mythicized conceptions of India is examined in detail through Raja Rao's first novel, Kanthapura. The key concept governing the subject is that of representation. Since the ‘fictional reality’ of the nation is a much-debated issue, the study examines how history slides into fiction. The book shows how orientalists, nationalists, Marxists, subalternists, and poststructuralists, have all, in their own celebratory ways, used the disenfranchised sub-proletariat in their works. What is found useful in poststructuralist practices, however, is that subaltern identities are imbued with heterogeneity, thus splitting open an authoritarian and reactionary nationalism, and a continuing neo-colonialism.
Michael Devitt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199250967
- eISBN:
- 9780191603945
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250960.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
Is Chomsky right about the psychological reality of language? What is linguistics about? What role should linguistic intuitions play in constructing grammars? What is innate about language? Is there ...
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Is Chomsky right about the psychological reality of language? What is linguistics about? What role should linguistic intuitions play in constructing grammars? What is innate about language? Is there “a language faculty”? The book gives controversial answers to such questions: that linguistics is about linguistic reality and not part of psychology; that linguistic rules are not represented in the mind; that speakers are largely ignorant of their language; that speakers’ intuitions do not reflect information supplied by the language faculty and are not the main evidence for grammars; that thought is prior to language in various ways; that linguistics should be concerned with what idiolects share, not with idiolects; that language processing is a fairly brute-causal associationist matter; that the rules of “Universal Grammar” are largely, if not entirely, innate structure rules of thought; and that there is little or nothing to the language faculty.Less
Is Chomsky right about the psychological reality of language? What is linguistics about? What role should linguistic intuitions play in constructing grammars? What is innate about language? Is there “a language faculty”? The book gives controversial answers to such questions: that linguistics is about linguistic reality and not part of psychology; that linguistic rules are not represented in the mind; that speakers are largely ignorant of their language; that speakers’ intuitions do not reflect information supplied by the language faculty and are not the main evidence for grammars; that thought is prior to language in various ways; that linguistics should be concerned with what idiolects share, not with idiolects; that language processing is a fairly brute-causal associationist matter; that the rules of “Universal Grammar” are largely, if not entirely, innate structure rules of thought; and that there is little or nothing to the language faculty.
J. A. Burrow
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112938
- eISBN:
- 9780191670879
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112938.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Langland's Piers Plowman is a profoundly Christian poem, which nevertheless has enjoyed a wide general appeal. Readers – both religious and non-religious – have been drawn by the power of Langland's ...
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Langland's Piers Plowman is a profoundly Christian poem, which nevertheless has enjoyed a wide general appeal. Readers – both religious and non-religious – have been drawn by the power of Langland's fictive imagination, the rich variety of imaginary worlds in his great dream poem. This book examines the construction of the ten dreams which make up the B Text of Piers Plowman, and explores the relation of these dream-fictions to those realities with which the poet was chiefly preoccupied. This relationship is discussed under three main headings: ‘fictions of the divided mind’, in which the poet's mixed feelings about matters such as the value of learning find expression in imagined scenes and actions; ‘fictions of history’, in which the main events of salvation history are relived in the parallel worlds of dream; and ‘fictions of the self’, in which Langland's doubtful sense of his own moral standing as a man and a poet apparently finds expression. This chapter also addresses the controversial question of ‘autobiographical elements’ in the poem.Less
Langland's Piers Plowman is a profoundly Christian poem, which nevertheless has enjoyed a wide general appeal. Readers – both religious and non-religious – have been drawn by the power of Langland's fictive imagination, the rich variety of imaginary worlds in his great dream poem. This book examines the construction of the ten dreams which make up the B Text of Piers Plowman, and explores the relation of these dream-fictions to those realities with which the poet was chiefly preoccupied. This relationship is discussed under three main headings: ‘fictions of the divided mind’, in which the poet's mixed feelings about matters such as the value of learning find expression in imagined scenes and actions; ‘fictions of history’, in which the main events of salvation history are relived in the parallel worlds of dream; and ‘fictions of the self’, in which Langland's doubtful sense of his own moral standing as a man and a poet apparently finds expression. This chapter also addresses the controversial question of ‘autobiographical elements’ in the poem.
Bede Rundle
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199575114
- eISBN:
- 9780191722349
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199575114.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so ...
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This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so between Newton and Leibniz, and their followers. The investigation brings to the fore questions of the nature and reality of time and space, and leads on to more recent debates, as those relating to their possible infinitude, to anti-realism, time travel, temporal parts, geometry, convention, and the direction of time. These in turn raise more general issues, issues involving such concepts as those of identity, objectivity, causation, facts, and verifiability. Their examination falls within metaphysics, thought of as the investigation and analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts, but there is also metaphysics of a more contentious character, where the subject-matter is provided by propositions which transcend what can be known either through experience or by pure reasoning. In this connection, a central aim is to show how, without dismissing them as nonsensical, we may arrive at a fruitful interpretation of such propositions. While the focus of the work is not primarily on issues which presume an understanding of physical theory, it is hoped that the arguments developed will throw some light on relevant scientific concerns.Less
This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so between Newton and Leibniz, and their followers. The investigation brings to the fore questions of the nature and reality of time and space, and leads on to more recent debates, as those relating to their possible infinitude, to anti-realism, time travel, temporal parts, geometry, convention, and the direction of time. These in turn raise more general issues, issues involving such concepts as those of identity, objectivity, causation, facts, and verifiability. Their examination falls within metaphysics, thought of as the investigation and analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts, but there is also metaphysics of a more contentious character, where the subject-matter is provided by propositions which transcend what can be known either through experience or by pure reasoning. In this connection, a central aim is to show how, without dismissing them as nonsensical, we may arrive at a fruitful interpretation of such propositions. While the focus of the work is not primarily on issues which presume an understanding of physical theory, it is hoped that the arguments developed will throw some light on relevant scientific concerns.
Michael Devitt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199250967
- eISBN:
- 9780191603945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250960.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This chapter argues against Chomsky’s view that linguistics is a branch of psychology, and hence concerns a psychological reality: the speaker’s linguistic competence. With the help of three quite ...
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This chapter argues against Chomsky’s view that linguistics is a branch of psychology, and hence concerns a psychological reality: the speaker’s linguistic competence. With the help of three quite general distinctions, including that between structure rules and processing rules, and between being a structure rule and “respecting” one, it is argued that there is something other than psychological reality for a grammar to be true of: it can be true of a linguistic reality. Given the weight of evidence, it is plausible that the grammar is indeed more or less true of that reality. The grammar might also be true of a psychological reality, but to show that it is so requires further psychological assumption. It will prove hard to establish a psychological assumption that will do the trick.Less
This chapter argues against Chomsky’s view that linguistics is a branch of psychology, and hence concerns a psychological reality: the speaker’s linguistic competence. With the help of three quite general distinctions, including that between structure rules and processing rules, and between being a structure rule and “respecting” one, it is argued that there is something other than psychological reality for a grammar to be true of: it can be true of a linguistic reality. Given the weight of evidence, it is plausible that the grammar is indeed more or less true of that reality. The grammar might also be true of a psychological reality, but to show that it is so requires further psychological assumption. It will prove hard to establish a psychological assumption that will do the trick.
Torben Grodal
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159834
- eISBN:
- 9780191673719
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159834.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter summarizes the main findings of the book. The aim of this book has been to show the way in which cognitions and emotions in the experience of viewing visual fiction are part of a ...
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This chapter summarizes the main findings of the book. The aim of this book has been to show the way in which cognitions and emotions in the experience of viewing visual fiction are part of a holistic framework. This holism has its origin in the way that fictions are experienced by the viewer. Central elements in the book can be summed up by some key concepts including holism, ecological conventions, reality-simulation, and aesthetic flow.Less
This chapter summarizes the main findings of the book. The aim of this book has been to show the way in which cognitions and emotions in the experience of viewing visual fiction are part of a holistic framework. This holism has its origin in the way that fictions are experienced by the viewer. Central elements in the book can be summed up by some key concepts including holism, ecological conventions, reality-simulation, and aesthetic flow.
Frank Palmer
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198242321
- eISBN:
- 9780191680441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198242321.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy
Recent philosophical discussion about the relation between fiction and reality pays little heed to our moral involvement with literature. This book investigates how our appreciation of literary works ...
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Recent philosophical discussion about the relation between fiction and reality pays little heed to our moral involvement with literature. This book investigates how our appreciation of literary works calls upon and develops our capacity for moral understanding. The book explores a wide range of philosophical questions about the relation of art to morality, and challenges theories which the book regards as incompatible with a humane view of literary art. The book considers, in particular, the extent to which the values and moral concepts involved in our understanding of human beings can be said to enter into our understanding of, and response to, fictional characters. The scope of this discussion encompasses literary aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology, and extensive use is made of reference to literary examples.Less
Recent philosophical discussion about the relation between fiction and reality pays little heed to our moral involvement with literature. This book investigates how our appreciation of literary works calls upon and develops our capacity for moral understanding. The book explores a wide range of philosophical questions about the relation of art to morality, and challenges theories which the book regards as incompatible with a humane view of literary art. The book considers, in particular, the extent to which the values and moral concepts involved in our understanding of human beings can be said to enter into our understanding of, and response to, fictional characters. The scope of this discussion encompasses literary aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology, and extensive use is made of reference to literary examples.
John Bowker
- Published in print:
- 1978
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198266464
- eISBN:
- 9780191683046
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198266464.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, World Religions
This book asks why, since so many characterizations of theistic reality have gone to extinction, do some, not simply survive, but undergo considerable recharacterization, when they have come under ...
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This book asks why, since so many characterizations of theistic reality have gone to extinction, do some, not simply survive, but undergo considerable recharacterization, when they have come under the strain of implausibility? One feature seems to be recurrent and of importance: the extent to which those who transact major transformations in existing characterizations of God are themselves dislodged by a sense of theistic reality external to themselves, insisting on its own nature and presence, often in contrast to the existing ideas about God which they have held up to that time. The initial sense of God for most people is almost invariably a consequence of the culture and the circumstances in which they were born. What, then, moves some people beyond their point of departure into new discoveries and new landmarks in their exploration of relationship with God? To explore these themes, the book focuses on four traditions in which dramatic transformations occurred: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.Less
This book asks why, since so many characterizations of theistic reality have gone to extinction, do some, not simply survive, but undergo considerable recharacterization, when they have come under the strain of implausibility? One feature seems to be recurrent and of importance: the extent to which those who transact major transformations in existing characterizations of God are themselves dislodged by a sense of theistic reality external to themselves, insisting on its own nature and presence, often in contrast to the existing ideas about God which they have held up to that time. The initial sense of God for most people is almost invariably a consequence of the culture and the circumstances in which they were born. What, then, moves some people beyond their point of departure into new discoveries and new landmarks in their exploration of relationship with God? To explore these themes, the book focuses on four traditions in which dramatic transformations occurred: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242641
- eISBN:
- 9780191599255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924264X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the ...
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This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the concept of social understanding. There are seven main sections: The Phenomenology of Social Action; The Social Construction of Reality; Politics in a World of Multiple Realities; The Political Spectacle as Hyperreality; The Social Meanings of Public Policies; Meaning Construction and the Policy Process: The Typologies of Public Policy; Policy Design: Constructing Target Populations.Less
This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the concept of social understanding. There are seven main sections: The Phenomenology of Social Action; The Social Construction of Reality; Politics in a World of Multiple Realities; The Political Spectacle as Hyperreality; The Social Meanings of Public Policies; Meaning Construction and the Policy Process: The Typologies of Public Policy; Policy Design: Constructing Target Populations.
