CSMN4021: Pragmatics and Relevance Theory
Semester: Spring 2010
Time and Place: Thursday 12:15 -14:00, Seminarrom 4 P.A.
Munchs hus
Course Content
The course acts as an introduction to work on communication within
relevance theory and the Gricean tradition. Students will get an
introduction to lexical pragmatics, which studies the processes by
which the meaning that is communicated, or intended, by use of a
word on a given occasion may be substantially different from the
meaning assigned to it by the grammar. An example of such a process
is metaphorical extension. We will also spend some time looking at
the connection between humans' capacity for linguistic
communication and the so-called theory of mind ability, that is,
the ability to infer the thoughts and intentions of others on the
basis of their behaviour. We will look at these two uniquely human
capacities in an evolutionary perspective, and discuss the view
held by some pragmatists that the emergence and development of
language was dependent on an already existing theory of mind
ability in humans. Towards the end of the term we will look more
closely at the notion of intended meaning and the effect and role
of context in determining what is expressed. We will also discuss
how and when communication can be seen as successful and in what
way pragmatic theories can account for the sharing of ideas,
thoughts and information. An overarching theme of the course is the
extent to which meaning in linguistic communication is
pragmatically determined.
Organizer: Nicholas Allott
CSMN4010: Self Knowledge
Semester: Spring 2010
Time and Place: Wednesday 16:15 -18:00, Seminarrom 2 P.A.
Munchs hus
Course Content
In this course we investigate the epistemology of self-knowledge,
and examine current research on the nature and significance of the
distinctive ways in which one knows about the contents of one’s own
mind. We seem to be epistemically authoritative about what we are
experiencing, thinking and doing, and need not rely on empirical
observations of ourselves or inference to know about them, as other
people do. What explains this fact, and what do the special
characteristics of first-person epistemic access tell us about the
nature of mental states and actions? We critically examine some of
the most influential answers to these questions in the contemporary
literature.
Organizer: Timothy Chan
NOR 4000: Historisk syntaks
Time and place: : Aug 18- Nov 24, 2009 02:15 PM -04:00 PM, Seminarrom 322 Henrik Wergelands hus,Blindern, Oslo
Kort om emnet
- forholdet mellom diakron og synkron syntaks
- forholdet mellom diakroni og typologi
- forholdet mellom språkendring og språktileigning
- beskrivingsmodellar for syntaktisk endring
- utprøving av syntaktiske modellar og teoriar mot historiske data
- tolking av historisk språkmateriale til bruk i syntaktisk generalisering
Organizer
Jan Terje Faarlund
FIL 2207: Handlingsfilosofi
Time and place: Aug 19 - Des 2 2009. 04:15 PM-06:00 PM, Seminarrom 706 Niels Treschows hus, Blindern, Oslo
Kort om emnet
Handlingsfilosofi er studiet av menneskelig handling, hvordan handling oppstår og hva forklaring av handling er. Målet med dette kurset er å gi en introduksjon til flere klassiske temaer og problemstillinger innen handlingsfilosofi. Vi begynner kurset med å se på ulike teorier om hva handling er. Et sentralt spørsmål angår forholdet mellom handling og kroppens bevegelser. Derretter fortsetter vi med en diskusjon av forholdet mellom handling og grunner, hvor et viktig spørsmål er om dette forholdet kan være kausalt. Vi skal så diskutere om vi trenger et eget begrep om “vilje” for å forstå handling; om hva sags type mental tilstand det er å “intendere” å gjøre noe; vi ser nærmere på begrepet om praktisk rasjonalitet (herunder beslutningsteori) og stiller spørsmål om motivert irrasjonell handling er mulig; vi skal også ta for oss ulike syn på motivasjon, grunner og handlingsforklaring.
Organizer
Anders Nes
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