of labour.
Language is one of the basic means of communication. However, it is imperfect and brings drawbacks
and problems with lots of uncertainties.
Rule-governed
Intended
Creative and open-ended
Language is rule-governed
There are two main elements of rules in every language:
While Grammar gives the rules how to combine words in a language to be assembled in a
meaningful whole, Vocabulary includes the association between words and objects which is
essential for words to have a meaning.
Language is intended
Body language – the same expression may mean two different things when intended and
when not (e.g. yawning when tired and yawning when bored)
Machines do not INTEND to use language (computers) since they are simply “programmed”
to understand. Therefore they do not use language
Language is creative and open-ended
There are millions of possible sentences in each language.
Language changes and develops. New words are being created and borrowed all the time.
The problem of meaning
Knowing a word doesn’t necessarily mean knowing its meaning. Words are often ambiguous
and need interpretation.
Theories of meaning
1) Definition theory – meanings found in dictionaries
Defining words by other words – problems with circular defining. Difficult to define some
words since their meaning is unclear and definitions tend to be vague and imprecise
2) Denotation theory – meanings found in the world
Words with meaning stand for something. E.g. “banana” represents a long yellow fruit
The theory is imprecise in abstract meanings. “Freedom” doesn’t stand for any specific
thing.
3) Image theory – meanings found in the mind
The meaning of the word is the mental image it stands for. However, it is never sure
whether our mental image corresponds to the mental image of others.
Meaning as know-how
Since the theories all have shortcomings, meaning is a matter of know-how. You know the
true meaning of a word when you know how to use it correctly. We also need to understand
what a sentence means before we can decide whether it is true or false.
Problematic meaning:
1) Vagueness – many words depend on the context (slow). But are useful at giving
2) Ambiguity – many words and phrases can have more than one meaning based
3) Secondary meaning
4) Metaphor – different meaning of phrases based on outer similarities (head
at least directions in which we should think. Some are vague by their nature.
on the context (The duchess cannot bear children).
Words not only have a primary meaning (denotation) but also a secondary
meaning (connotation) which refers to the associations around it. Sometimes,
euphemisms are used to make negative connotation into positive (passed away)
in the clouds). In languages, also Dead metaphors are present – they’re used so
often we don’t even realize they are metaphors. (brilliant mind)
5) Irony – saying one thing in order to mean the opposite.
Language is ambiguous. An important part of understanding is interpretation and context.
Meaning of words is important to understand since words can be very often misused
(politicians) and we need to fully understand to have a corresponding image of the reality. It
is important to know when a person is using language as a trick (“psychics”).
Language and translation
There are approximately 3000 languages in the world. They do not have the same rules
and vocabulary, therefore word-to-word translation is not possible. Since languages are so
different, translation is more of an art than a science.
Problems of translation
Context – words are related to other words in the language. It is necessary to know
all of them. (chat, talk, gossip)
• Untranslatable words – There are words in languages which are unique and
untranslatable with one word into other languages (Schlimmbesserung). There are
also words which have more than just one equivalent in another language (du/Sie)
• Idioms – colloquial expression which has a meaning which cannot be worked out
from the meanings of the words it contains. It is required to know the idiom itself.
E.g. an English person wouldn’t understand “Bez práce nie sú koláče“ if translated
word-to-word.
Lost in translation
Criteria for translation:
• Faithfulness to the original text
• Comprehensibility
• Back translation
Labels and stereotypes
There are proper names and general words. Using general words is basically creating labels.
Creating labels is efficient for the purpose of saving time. However, mislabeling may
create problems. There are many different ways of classifying things. Labels can be natural
(objective) or cultural.
Labels of people can easily slip into stereotypes – that is making assumptions about
members of a group simply because they belong to it. (e.g. Giovanni eats spaghetti since he’s
Italian). These often lead to racism and sexism.
Labels and stereotypes are useful when simplifying things but can be dangerous since
they’re not able to capture the uniqueness of each member of a group.
Language and thought
The extent to which language affects the way we think
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis = “Language determines thought”
Our reality is determined by language. E.g. Eskimos see different patterns in snow since they
have many different words for it. – Edward Sapir”
We cannot understand what we cannot label. E.g. Hopi Indians have no “time” in their
language – Benjamin Whorf
It is a form of linguistic determinism.
Testing the hypothesis
Evidence of thought without language:
Babies and animals are able to think without language (simple mental arithmetic)
Language is secondary, thoughts come as images.
We sometimes cannot express our ideas with words
New words created and first languages arising (pre-language thought needed)
Conclusion: Rather than determining thought, language more likely influences thought. It is a
useful tool to enable us think. E.g. babies have some basic mathematical knowledge but are
unable to multiply since they don’t have the appropriate “vocabulary”
Language and values
Language can have great influence on people.
For example, advertisers use language as an advertising tool (sparkling water, economy class
in planes)
Using language to influence and persuade
1) Emotionally laden language – words not only have a descriptive meaning
but also an emotive meaning – that is the “aura” around the world. For
example “toilet” has different emotive meaning than “restroom”. Euphemisms
are a kind of emotionally laden language – positively.
E.g. positive – hero, love, peace
negative – death, hunger, terrorist
Phrasing may change the outcome in questions or surveys – it is a powerful tool
of influencing people
2) Weasel words – words that are put into sentences to create an escape route.
Words like “can”, “should”, “may” and “might” are typical
E.g. “Our toothpaste HELPS fight cavity” (it is not certain)
3) Grammar – may affect the way people set things. E.g. passive may be used to
escape responsibility (The city was bombed)
4) Revealing and concealing – may also influence people. Concealing undesired
information and only saying positives may have a positive effect.
Using euphemisims may make it easier for soldiers to kill their enemies and lose the moral
responsibility. (kill = neutralize, invade = liberate, destroy = take out, dead = no longer a
factor,…)
Language can be used to gain power over people. It plays an important roles in our attitudes
and may change our opinions. E.g. Adolf Hitler used language to gain power and manipulate
people.
Perception
Perception is the awareness of things using the five senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and
smell.
Humans are visually oriented and use their smell the least.
Empiricism – school of philosophy that says all knowledge is based on perceptual experience
Common-sense realism – a theory according to which perception is passive and only gives us
an accurate image of reality.
Senses not only reflect the reality but actively construct it.
Perceptual illusions
Perception consists of two elements:
Sensation - provided by the world
Interpretation – provided by our minds ( usually subconscious)
These things play an important role in perception:
Context – what we perceive depends on the context, the background; optical
illusions are often based on changing backgrounds and contexts
Figure and ground – double images – we consider one part of what we see as the
main part (figure) and the rest as background (ground). (e.g. black color = letters in
books is the figure)
Visual grouping – humans have a tendency to group patterns together into a
meaningful whole. They are able to fill in missing parts of images
Expectations – people tend to ignore things which are not expected in a given
situation. (own errors in written work are often not seen;)
The role of unconscious – most interpretations occur unconsciously – people do not realize
they’re distinguishing objects in space – the inability to do so is called visual agnosia and is a
medical condition
Selectivity of perception
Perception is selective – it picks some elements to concentrate on and ignores others.
Therefore we often not hear the ticking of a clock but hear a scream in the middle of the
night. Important factors are contrast, interest and mood.
Seeing and believing
“Believing is seeing”
3 examples:
Science – in 19th century, astronomers believed in a planet and saw it but it was
actually not there
History – On Bloody Sunday, Catholics saw the others attacking first, the soldiers saw
it the other way around
Arts – people tend to draw not what they see but what they believe – in 19th century,
horses were drawn with 2 eyelashes while they only have one.
Eye-witness testimony – single eye-witnesses are unreliable since they tend to commit
perceptual errors and the element of time plays a major role as well.
Distinguishing appearance from reality
Perception causes problems since:
We may misinterpret what we see
We may fail to notice something
We may misremember what we have seen
These can be eliminated by:
Confirmation by another sense – If we doubt something which one of our senses
perceives, it is reasonable to prove it by another one.
Coherence – when things do not “fit in” they are to be doubted
Independent testimony – when more people see the same thing, it is likely to be
true.
Psychology of perception – Our senses are limited. Different animals have different types of
senses. Their reality is different from ours.
What is really out there?
Pain, taste and color – “Tickle is not the feather” – pain, taste and color are not only
based on the objects that cause them but also on the receptors that sense them.
They are all subjective
The tree in the forest – “If a tree falls in a forest….” – there are two ways to look at
the problem. There is a physical sound present, but there is no sound experience.
It is logical to think that things occur even if there is nobody to see/hear/taste them
since changes can be observed (If you leave a burning paper and come later, it will be
burnt)
The tables in the classroom – Do tables dance when nobody is around? It is
improbable for such a thing to exist, therefore it is considered false, since it is
impossible to prove.
Theories of reality
Common-sense realism – the world is the way we perceive it (”What you see it what
is there”)
Scientific realism – The world exists independently but is different from what we
perceive it as (“Atoms in the void”)
Phenomenalism – We can only know what we perceive – (“to be is to be perceived”
Most theories suggest the existence of an independently existing reality (Things happen also
without people).
Reason
Using reason we gain knowledge that is beyond the immediate evidence of our senses.
Rationalism – school of philosophy according to which reason is the most important source
of knowledge – even more than experience
Premises – The assumptions in logic, conclusions follow from them
Fallacies – invalid patterns of reasoning
Deductive reasoning
• Moving from the general to the particular
Syllogisms - A kind of argument that includes:
Two premises and a conclusion
Three terms, each occurring twice
Quantifiers (all, some, no)
Truth = a property of statements
Validity = a property of arguments
An argument is valid if the conclusion follows logically from the premises and invalid when it
doesn’t. Trueness is independent on validity.
The structure of arguments
Validity of a syllogism doesn’t depend on the words used but on the structure. It is possible
to substitute the elements for anything else and the validity won’t change. (A -> B is the
same as seeds->plants when speaking of validity)
A fallacy called brief bias is based on concentrating not on the structure but the words
themselves which may lead to false conclusions.
Venn diagrams – are a useful tool when deciding whether a syllogism is valid. However,
Venn diagrams contain extra information which should NOT be considered as given in the
first place.
Deductive reasoning preserves truth – if the premises are both true then the conclusion
must be true.
Enthymeme = an incomplete argument (e.g. Jenny goes to Oxford so she must be intelligent)
All deductive reasoning is based on inductive reasoning – experience
Inductive reasoning
• Moving from the particular to the general
Is based on experience and observation which allows to draw conclusions
Deduction and induction compared
Deduction
Reasoning from general to
particular
All metals expand when
heated
A is a metal
->A expands when heated
More certain, less
information than Induction
How reliable is inductive reasoning?
Sometimes we make hasty generalizations. Sometimes, even well supported inductions are
proved wrong.
Confirmation bias – people only see things supporting their theories and ignore exceptions.
Good generalizations
1) Number – need to look at a large number of examples to be able to make a
generalization
2) Variety – variety of circumstances – different types
3) Exceptions – actively look at counter-examples
4) Coherence – more evidence for unlikely things
5) Subject area – some areas are more certain than others (maths>biology)
Informal Reasoning
The ten deadly fallacies:
Ad ignorantiam
Hasty generalization
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Ad hominem
Circular reasoning
Special pleading
Equivocation
False analogy
Claiming something is true because it cannot be proved false
Generalizing from insufficient evidence
Confusing a correlation with a causal connection
Attacking/supporting the person rather than the argument
Assuming the truth of what you are supposed to be proving
Using double standards to excuse an individual or a group
Using language ambiguously
Assuming that because two things are alike in some aspects,
they are alike in others
Assuming that only two black and white alternatives exist
A question that is biased because it contains a built in
assumption
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
The fact that two things follow after each other doesn’t necessarily mean that one is the
cause of the other. (e.g. Day is not the cause of night)
Ad hominem fallacy (“against the man”)
Not arguing – attacking/supporting the person.
(e.g. What do YOU know about it? You’re just a child! / Obama says it so it must be right)
Circular reasoning (vicious circle / begging the question)
Arguing with the thing that needs to be proven. (e.g. God must exist because dictated wrote
the bible)
Special pleading
Exceptions for certain people (e.g. politician immunity)
Equivocation
Word used in two different ways in an argument
(A hamburger is better than nothing and nothing is better than good health => hamburger is
better than good health)
Argument ad ignorantiam
Saying something is true on the basis thet it cannot be proved wrong.
- God exists.
- Do you have any proof that he does?
- Do you have any proof that he does not? So he must.
False analogy
Using analogies that are not logically correct – only a rhetorical device (e.g. comparing rain
to human problems)
False dilemma
Only putting something as black and white – suggesting binary thinking when there are other
options as well (e.g. You either climb that tree or you will NEVER conquer your fear!)
Loaded questions
Questions that contain suggestions and cannot be answered in a yes/no manner while not
telling anything. (e.g. Do you always cheat on your exams?)
Causes of bad reasoning
The main reasons are ignorance, laziness, pride and prejudice.
We misuse rhetorical skills in order to persuade people – sometimes we even argue about
things which we know are wrong rather than coming to the correct conclusion.
Reason and certainty
Laws of thought:
The law of identity – If A then A.
The law of non-contradiction – If A is A then it is not non-A
The law of the excluded middle – Everything is either A or non-A. Nothing is both.
Can deductive reasoning be doubted?
“Reason is a matter of faith”
Some things are unsure and unable to be categorized properly (day/night)
Everything is constantly changing?
Can inductive reasoning be doubted?
Induction is hard to apply for all rather than all observed
Prison of consistency – When you take a position on something, it is difficult to change it
without losing face or to look at it from a different perspective. (It is hard to find errors in my
own test)
