The Science of Meaning - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Science of Meaning write by Derek Ball. This book was released on 2018-07-11. The Science of Meaning available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. By creating certain marks on paper, or by making certain sounds-breathing past a moving tongue-or by articulation of hands and bodies, language users can give expression to their mental lives. With language we command, assert, query, emote, insult, and inspire. Language has meaning. This fact can be quite mystifying, yet a science of linguistic meaning-semantics-has emerged at the intersection of a variety of disciplines: philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and psychology. Semantics is the study of meaning. But what exactly is "meaning"? What is the exact target of semantic theory? Much of the early work in natural language semantics was accompanied by extensive reflection on the aims of semantic theory, and the form a theory must take to meet those aims. But this meta-theoretical reflection has not kept pace with recent theoretical innovations. This volume re-addresses these questions concerning the foundations of natural language semantics in light of the current state-of-the-art in semantic theorising.
The Meaning of Science
The Meaning of Science - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Meaning of Science write by Tim Lewens. This book was released on 2016-01-26. The Meaning of Science available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A philosopher of science examines the biggest ethical and moral issues in science today, and explains why they matter for all of us -- scientist and layman alike Science has produced explanations for everything from the mechanisms of insect navigation to the formation of black holes and the workings of black markets. But how much can we trust science, and can we actually know the world through it? How does science work and how does it fail? And how can the work of scientists help -- or hurt -- everyday people? These are not questions that science can answer on its own. This is where philosophy of science comes in. Studying science without philosophy is, to quote Einstein, to be "like somebody who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest." Cambridge philosopher Tim Lewens shows us the forest. He walks us through the theories of seminal philosophers of science Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn and considers what science is, how far it can and should reach, and how we can determine the nature of its truths and myths. These philosophical issues have consequences that stretch far beyond the laboratory. For instance: What role should scientists have in policy discussions on environmental issues such as fracking? What are the biases at play in the search for a biological function of the female orgasm? If brain scans can be used to demonstrate that a decision was made several seconds before a person actually makes a conscious choice, what does that tell us about the possibility of free will? By examining science through this philosophical lens, Lewens reveals what physics can teach us about reality, what biology teaches us about human nature, and what cognitive science teaches us about human freedom. A masterful analysis of the biggest scientific and ethical issues of our age, The Meaning of Science forces us to confront the practical, personal, and political purposes of science -- and why it matters to all of us.
The Experience of Meaning in Life
The Experience of Meaning in Life - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Experience of Meaning in Life write by Joshua A. Hicks. This book was released on 2013-05-27. The Experience of Meaning in Life available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book offers an in-depth exploration of the burgeoning field of meaning in life in the psychological sciences, covering conceptual and methodological issues, core psychological mechanisms, environmental, cognitive and personality variables and more.
Semantics
Semantics - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Semantics write by Michel Bréal. This book was released on 1900. Semantics available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
Return to Meaning
Return to Meaning - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Return to Meaning write by Mats Alvesson. This book was released on 2017. Return to Meaning available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social science research, but the proliferation of meaningless research, of no value to society, and modest value to its authors - apart from securing employment and promotion. The explosion of published outputs, at least in social science, creates a noisy, cluttered environment which makes meaningful research difficult, as different voices compete to capture the limelight even briefly. Older, more significant contributions are easily neglected, as the premium is to write and publish, not read and learn. The result is a widespread cynicism among academics on the value of academic research, sometimes including their own. Publishing comes to be seen as a game of hits and misses, devoid of intrinsic meaning and value, and of no wider social uses whatsoever. Academics do research in order to get published, not to say something socially meaningful. This is what we view as the rise of nonsense in academic research, which represents a serious social problem. It undermines the very point of social science. This problem is far from 'academic'. It affects many areas of social and political life entailing extensive waste of resources and inflated student fees as well as costs to tax-payers. Part two of the book offers a range of proposals aimed at restoring meaning at the heart of social research and drawing social science back address the major problems and issues that face our societies.
