Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.

New research into human and animal consciousness, a heightened awareness of the methods and consequences of intensive farming, and modern concerns about animal welfare and ecology are among the factors that have made our relationship to animals an area of burning interest in contemporary philosophy. Utilizing methods inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, the contributors to this volume explore this area in a variety of ways. Topics discussed include: scientific vs. non-scientific ways of describing human and animal behaviour; the ethics of eating particular animal species; human nature, emotions, and instinctive reactions; responses of wonder towards the natural world; the moral relevance of literature; the concept of dignity; and the question whether non-human animals can use language. This book will be of great value to anyone interested in philosophical and interdisciplinary issues concerning language, ethics and humanity's relation to animals and the natural world.

Living Beings examines the vital characteristics of social interactions between living beings, including humans, other animals and trees.Many discussions of such relationships highlight the exceptional qualities of the human members of the category, insisting for instance on their religious beliefs or creativity. In contrast, the international case studies in this volume dissect views based on hierarchical oppositions between human and other living beings. Although human practices may sometimes appear to exist in a realm beyond nature, they are nevertheless subject to the pull of natural forces. These forces may be brought into prominence through a consideration of the interactions between human beings and other inhabitants of the natural world.The interplay in this book between social anthropologists, philosophers and artists cuts across species divisions to examine the experiential dimensions of interspecies engagements. In ethnographically and/or historically contextualized chapters, contributors examine the juxtaposition of human and other living beings in the light of themes such as wildlife safaris, violence, difference, mimicry, simulation, spiritual renewal, dress and language.

In recent years, with the rise of new media, the phenomenon of 'multimodality' (communication via a number of modes simultaneously) has become central to our everyday interaction. This has given rise to a new kind of literacy that is rapidly gaining ground as an area of research. A companion to Making Sense, which explored the functions of reference, agency and structure in meaning, Adding Sense extends this analysis with two more surrounding functions. It addresses the ways in which 'context' and 'interest' add necessary sense to immediate objects of meaning, proposing a 'transpositional grammar' to account for movement across these different forms of meaning. Adding Sense weaves its way through philosophy, semiotics, social theory and the history of ideas. Its examples cross a range of social contexts, from the meaning universes of the First Peoples, to the new forms of meaning that have emerged in the era of digitally-mediated communication.

This book offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of J.L. Austin’s philosophy. It opens new ways of thinking about ethics and other contemporary issues in the wake of Austin’s philosophical work. Austin is primarily viewed as a philosopher of language whose work focused on the pragmatic aspects of speech. His work on ordinary language philosophy and speech act theory is seen as his main contribution to philosophy. This book challenges this received view to show that Austin used his most well-known theoretical notions as heuristic tools aimed at debunking the fact/value dichotomy. Additionally, it demonstrates that Austin’s continual returns to the ordinary is rooted in a desire to show that our lives in language are complicated and multifaceted. What emerges is an attempt to think with Austin about problems that are central to philosophy today—such as the question about linguistic inheritance, truth, the relationship between a language inherited and morality, and how we are to cope with linguistic elasticity and historicity. Lectures on a Philosophy Less Ordinary will appeal to scholars and advanced students working on Austin’s philosophy, philosophy of language, and the history of analytic philosophy.

The latest edition of a popular introductory linguistics text, now including a section on computational linguistics, new non-English examples, quizzes for each chapter, and additional special topics. This popular introductory linguistics text is unique for its integration of themes. Rather than treat morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics as completely separate fields, the book shows how they interact. The authors provide a sound introduction to linguistic methodology, focusing on a set of linguistic concepts that are among the most fundamental within the field. By studying the topics in detail, students can get a feeling for how work in different areas of linguistics is done. As in the last edition, part I covers the structural and interpretive parts of language—morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, variation, and change. Part II covers use and context of language and includes chapters on pragmatics, psychology of language, language acquisition, and language and the brain. This seventh edition has been extensively revised and updated; new material includes a chapter on computational linguistics (available in digital form and updated regularly to reflect the latest research in a rapidly developing field), more non-English examples, and a wide range of exercises, quizzes, and special topics. The seventh edition of Linguistics includes access to a new, web-based eCourse and enhanced eTextbook. The content from the former print supplement A Linguistics Workbook is now available in this online eCourse as interactive exercises. The eCourse is available via the Rent eTextbook link at http://mitpress.mit.edu/linguistics7, and may be used on its own for self-study or integrated with instructor-led learning management systems. The eCourse is a comprehensive, web-based eLearning solution. There is nothing to download or install; it is accessible through any modern web browser and most mobile devices. It features a singular new tool for building syntax trees, an IPA keyboard, a combination of auto-graded and essay questions, and classroom management tools. The enhanced eTextbook includes videos and flashcards and allows bookmarking, note-taking, highlighting, and annotation sharing. Access to the eCourse is free with the purchase of a new textbook or e-book. New print copies of this book include a card affixed to the inside back cover with a unique access code for the eTextbook. If you purchased an e-book, you may obtain a unique access code by emailing [email protected] or calling 617-253-2889 or 800-207-8354 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada). If you have a used copy of this book, you may purchase a digitally delivered access code separately via the Rent eTextbook link at http://mitpress.mit.edu/linguistics7.

This collection highlights a range of perspectives on the emerging body of research on evolutionary pragmatics, expanding the borders of language evolution research and indicating exciting new directions for the future of the field. The volume adopts a broad view of pragmatics, providing a counterpoint to classical models of language evolution by exploring the ways in which the origins of language can be traced through the emergence of language structures from use in context. The book synthesizes different lines of inquiry, ranging from evolutionary linguistics to cognitive linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive pragmatics, among other fields, which foreground the impact of the environment on language and of language, through speaker use, on context. The volume is organized around three sections, each taking in turn a different dimension of evolutionary pragmatics research; the origins of language as seen in animal communication; a closer look at the use of language in interaction for the formation of communication channel and linguistic meaning; the role of cooperation and competition dynamics for the emergence of language structure. This book will be of particular interest to scholars in evolutionary linguistics, language origins, cognitive pragmatics, cognitive archaeology, and cognitive semiotics, as well as related areas in philosophy, psychology, and anthropology.