Jean-Louis Dessalles explores the co-evolutionary paths of biology, culture, and the great human edifice of language, linking the evolution of the language to the general evolutionary history of humankind. He provides searchingly original answers to such fundamental paradoxes as to whether we acquired our greatest gift in order to talk or so as to be able to think, and as to why human beings should, as experience constantly confirms, contribute information for the well-being of others at their own expense and for no apparent gain: which if this is one of language's main functions appears to make its possession, in Darwinian terms, a disadvantage.
A Brief History of the Paradox: Philosophy and the Labyrinths of the Mind
Added by: Maria | Karma: 3098.81 | Coursebooks | 21 August 2007
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A Brief History of the Paradox Philosophy and the Labyrinths of the Mind
Because paradoxes show great minds at once at their most inspired and befuddled, a book like this makes an excellent introduction to philosophy in general.
By treating how different thinkers deal with a problem, Mr. Sorensen provides a sort of whistle-stop tour of Western thought. originally posted 2007-07-9; updated 2007-08-21
Blackwell Companions to American History
A Companion to 20th-Century America is an authoritative survey of the most important topics and themes of twentieth-century American history and historiography. Written by an expert in the field, each essay assesses the past and current state of American scholarship, covering topics such as foreign policy, religion, labor, ethnicity, law, the military, and the media. Additional essays cover major time periods: from the beginning of the century through the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, up to the closing of the century. An editorial introduction and further reading lists for each chapter round out this clearly written, exciting overview of twentieth-century American history. Students, scholars, and general readers should find this an indispensable work of reference and source of information.
Origins of the English Language В книге «Происхождение английского языка: социальная и лингвистическая история» ( Origins of the English Language: A Social & Linguistic History) он прослеживает историю английского языка от происхождения человека до сегодняшних дней.
A social and linguistic history of the English language is presented in this book. Part 1, "History and Language," discusses such topics as the aims of language history, the beginning of language, grammars, and language meaning. Part 2, "Words and Meanings," explores Old English, Middle English, the establishment of modern English, creating new words, semantic change, and semantic change and its social context. Part 3, "Grammar and Sound," discusses grammatical structure, grammatical change and noun and verb phrases, grammar and phonology, phonological change, and Black English. An index of Modern English words is also included. (TS)
The laws of Venus, to give them their proper name, have a venerable and lengthy history and there are ample if now somewhat understudied records of their courts and practices. To gain an initial sense of the scope of this history and the nature of these practices we have to return to the philosophical tradition, to Plato, and there trace the roots of a law that later spanned the courts of Europe and gave rise to the most enduring of forms of poetic justice.
