In From Molecule to Metaphor, Jerome Feldman proposes a theory of language and thought that treats language not as an abstract symbol system but as a human biological ability that can be studied as a function of the brain, as vision and motor control are studied. This theory, he writes, is a "bridging theory" that works from extensive knowledge at two ends of a causal chain to explicate the links between. Although the cognitive sciences are revealing much about how our brains produce language and thought, we do not yet know exactly how words are understood or have any methodology for finding out.
How to Do Things With Words is perhaps Austin's most influential work. In it he attacks what was at his time a predominant account in philosophy, namely, the view that the chief business of sentences is to state facts, and thus to be true or false based on the truth or falsity of those facts. In contrast to this common view, he argues, truth-evaluable sentences form only a small part of the range of utterances. After introducing several kinds of sentences which he assumes are indeed not truth-evaluable, he turns in particular to one of these kinds of sentences, which he deems performative utterances. These he characterises by two features:
* First, to utter one of these sentences is not just to "say" something, but rather to perform a certain kind of action.
* Second, these sentences are not true or false; rather, when something goes wrong in connection with the utterance then the utterance is, as he puts it, "infelicitous", or "unhappy."
The action which performative sentences 'perform' when they are uttered belongs to what Austin later calls a speech act (more particularly, the kind of action Austin has in mind is what he subsequently terms the illocutionary act). For example, if you say “I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth," and the circumstances are appropriate in certain ways, then you will have done something special, namely, you will have performed the act of naming the ship. Other examples include: "I take this man as my lawfully wedded husband," used in the course of a marriage ceremony, or "I bequeath this watch to my brother," as occurring in a will. In all three cases the sentence is not being used to describe or state what one is 'doing', but being used to actually 'do' it.
The origin of our capacity for language is a complex topic, requiring input from many disparate fields, from linguistics to paleoanthropology. Specialists in any one field are often unfamiliar with the evidence from other relevant disciplines. I perceive a need for an integration of knowledge from all relevant fields, outside as well as inside linguistics, in a single work. My purpose in writing this book is to bring together the material needed for such an integration, and to take the first steps towards the synthesis needed for a thorough understanding of the evolution of language.
The Handbook of Training and Practice in Infant and Preschool Mental Health
This comprehensive and highly useful guide offers students and practicing clinicians who work with infant and preschool populations a much-needed resource for developing and honing their professional skills and clinical experiences. The book contains vital information about general training issues and highlights the skills that are needed to be considered a competent professional. Written by top experts in the field from a wide range of disciplines, the authors address basic areas of training and practice with very young children, including observation, assessment, diagnosis, dyadic therapy, and reflective supervision, in addition to unique areas of clinical work such as reunification and adoption evaluations. The book also offers examples of innovative models of training and practice for the delivery of services in nontraditional settings such as homes, day care centers, and preschools, and special strategies for delivering clinical services and providing supervision in rural and remote settings, including the use of technology.
Historical Outlines of English Accidence Comprising chapters on the history and development of the language, and on word formation. Richard Morris (September 8, 1833 – May 12, 1894), was an English philologist. Morris was born in London. In 1871 he was ordained in the Church of England, and from 1875-1888 was head master of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, near London. His first published work was The Etymology of Local Names (1857).Between 1862 and 1880 he prepared twelve volumes for the Early English Text Society, edited the work of Geoffrey Chaucer (1866) and Edmund Spenser (1869) from the original manuscripts, and published Specimens of Early English (1867).His educational works, Historical Outlines of English Accidence (1872), Elementary Lessons in Historical English Grammar (1874) and English Grammar (1874), had a large sale and exercised a real influence.The rest of his life he devoted to the study of Pali, on which he became a recognized authority. He died at Harold Wood, Essex. (Wikipedia)
