Language, Mind, and Power

Daniel R. Boisvert is Senior Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His main areas of research are philosophy of language and ethics, especially their intersections and relations to broader issues in philosophy of mind and logic. He has authored or co-authored articles that have appeared in outlets such as Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, The Philosophical Quarterly, and The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language.Ralf Thiede is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research interests include interfacing formal linguistics and cognition, including brain development. His book Children’s Literature, Brain Development, and Language Acquisition appeared with Routledge (2019).

• ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesAcknowledgmentsPermissionIntroductionA World without Words? Language and linguistic equalityLanguage, Mind, and PowerLanguage as a Natural ResourceDepletion and PreservationPART ILanguage and Mind1 Profile of an Alpha(bet) PredatorEntropy and CooperationDNA and Philosophy: Unambiguous Information?Interpreting Single-signal Communication Systems: Cooperation and co-optionThe Cognitive Arms Race: Combinatorial communication systemsCreative Cooperation and Violence: Human languageIn a class by itself: A hierarchical combinatorial systemThe Neural Architecture of Universal GrammarLanguage Between Brains2 Thinking AnimalsRich ConceptsBrain-states and ReflexesConcepts of Objects and EventsMore Complex CapacitiesRemembering and AnalyzingComparing and SynthesizingImagining and PlanningSocial CognitionConventionalizing and ImitatingJoint Attention and Theory of MindCollective Intentionality3 The Narrating BrainCognitive Control through LanguageLanguage-imposed Telic Apperception: Schemata and scriptsThe Predictive Power of Narrative ComputingSetting the Parameters of Narrative Computing: FramingNarrative Cooperative Computing: Story timePART IILanguage and Power4 Doing Things with WordsSpeech ActsDistinction 1: Types of speech actsDistinction 2: Types of linguistic purposeDistinction 3: Performing illocutions directly or indirectlyThe Three Distinctions in ActionConversational ImplicatureSentence Meaning vs. Speaker MeaningConventional vs. Conversational ImplicatureContemporary Pragmatics5 The Language of CooperationThree Levels of Linguistic Processing and CooperationLevel 1: Negotiating syntactic structures and functionsLevel 2: Literal interpretation: Negotiated sentence meaningLevel 3: Extended interpretation: Negotiated implicaturesComing Together: Harnessing the cooperative nature of language6 The Language of ViolenceGenocide and PoliticideTen Stages of GenocideDispositionsContent and Context of Genocidal LanguageSexual AssaultLinguistic Dispositions, Content, and ContextSilencing7 Clarity from Managed ConfusionCooperation Towards UnderstandingThe Need for Managed ConfusionLinguistic Information Management StrategiesKeeping Track of ProformsOrdering ConstituentsInformation Management: Chaining Given and NewClarity as Alignment with Audience Needs: The Example of DefinitionsMasters of Managed Confusion: Famous AuthorsLanguage, Logic, Predictability, and Event Model‘Hills Like White Elephants’ by Ernest Hemingway‘The International Eisteddfod’ by Dylan ThomasMurder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieOh Say Can You Say by Dr. SeussA Collaborative Dance, but the Author LeadsConclusionStandards and ShibbolethsIlliteracy and AliteracyContaminated Language Uncooperative Language