The Rector
and Permanent Fellows of
COLLEGIUM BUDAPEST / Institute for Advanced Study
invite you to a
Public Lecture
by
Derek Bickerton
on Thursday, 25 April 2002, at 5.30 p.m.
in Collegium Budapest
1014 Budapest
Szentháromság u. 2.
"If you can't make a sentence you can't make sense:
The real relation between thought and language"
The relationship between thought and language has been systematically misunderstood
by almost everyone who has ever written about it. First, the two categories are
incommensurate. Language does not admit of gradation or qualificationsomething
either is language or it isn't. Thought on the other hand can appear in a variety of forms.
It can be conscious or unconscious. It can be on-line or off-line. It can be directed or
undirected. There is probably only one kind of thought that requires language, that is,
conscious, off-line, directed thought.
Directed thought requires that symbolic units of some kind be manipulated. We tend to
think of these as 'words' because that's what they are when we utter or write our
thoughts. If they remain in the brain they aren't words because there are no words in the
brain, only electrochemical impulses. If we think of these things as 'concepts' we fall
into the trap of thinking that on the one hand there are words and on the other concepts
and the former simply consist of some kind of clothes for the latter. Because again there
aren't 'concepts' in the brainonly electrochemical impulses. It helps if we say that
whether we thinking ot speaking, we are simply manipulating symbolic units (of some
sort).
In order for those symbols to result in any kind of meaning that is, in order for them to
constitute conscious, off-line, directed thought--they have to be assembled in some
structured kind of way. Syntaxwhat makes grammatical sentencesis the only way of
structuringsymbolic units. That there are two ways of putting them togethersome
mysterious 'language of thought' as opposed to some specific human languageseems
to be incorrect. Basic principles of syntax common to all languages serve to structure
symbolic units BEFORE those units achieve morphological or phonological expression.
The same process that enables us to speak in sentences is what enables us to have the
kind of sirected thoughts that make us human'I talk, therefore I think'.
CV:
Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii.
Date of birth: 1926. 1949 BA, Cambridge University; 1976 PhD, Cambridge University;
19721976 Associate Professor, 197696 Professor, University of Hawaii; 1979 Visiting
Professor at SUNY; 1982 UT Austin; 19861987 University of Amsterdam; 19871988
University of Provence; Awards: 1992 U. H. Regents Medal for Excellence in Research;
1992 Danz Lecturer, U. of Washington, Seattle; 1995 Landsdowne Scholar, University of
Victoria (Canada); 1997 Fulbright Distinguished Chair, Federico II University, Naples;
1997 Resident Scholar, Rockefeller Center, Bellagio.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Dynamics of a Creole System (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 224 pp.
- Roots of Language (Ann Arbor, MI: Karoma Press, 1981), 351 pp.
- 'Creole languages', Scientific American 249.1 (1983), pp. 116122.
- 'The language bioprogram hypothesis', Behavioral and Brain Sciences 7 (1984), pp.
173221.
- Language and Species (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), 297 pp.
- Language and Human Behavior (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995),
180 pp.
- with William Calvin, Lingua ex Machina (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000), 298 pp.
Csaba Pleh, Professor of Psychology
Budapest U. of Technology and Economics, Center for Cognitive Science
Presently at Collegium Budapest, Budapest, Szentharomsag u 2 H-1014
cspleh@ colbud.hu, T: 3612248323, Fax: 3612248310 Mobile: (06)303500431
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University
Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/A
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM
(http://hps.elte.hu/seminar)
________________________________________________
22 April 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54
(Language: Hungarian)
Vallas es tudomany: a konfliktuson innen es tul
Religion and Science: this side of the conflict and beyond
Mihaly Toth
Philosophy, Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Budapest
Vallas es tudomany, kulonosen pedig a modern termeszettudomany
viszonyara gondolva leggyakrabban valamilyen szembenallas
kepe sejlik fel elottunk. Ezt az elkepzelest reszben indokoljak
az ujkori tudomanytortenet egyes fejlemenyei. A ket terulet
kapcsolata azonban sokkal arnyaltabb annal, semhogy egy
egyszeru konfliktus- modellel jellemezheto lenne. Az elmult
evtizedekben szamos kiserlet tortent mind teologusok, mind
termeszettudosok, mind a kozvetitesre vallalkozo filozofusok
reszerol, hogy a kerdeses viszony minel tobb aspektusat
feltarjak, valamint hogy a kapcsolat jelen es jovobeni lehetosegeit
felvazoljak.
Eloadasomban a legfontosabb idevonatkozo eszmefuttatasokat
kivanom roviden bemutatni - kiterve a magyar vonatkozasokra
-, altaluk illusztralva a kerdeskor aktualitasat es jelentoseget.
Vitainditokent igyekszem tovabba ramutatni az eddigi kiserletek
nehany problematikus pontjara is.
___________________
The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó
--
Laszlo E. Szabo
Department of Theoretical Physics
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University, Budapest
H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary
Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924
Home: (36-1) 200-7318
Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172
http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo
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BOUNCE koglist(a)www.cogpsyphy.hu: Non-member submission from
[utak(a)nytud.hu]
---
From: utak(a)nytud.hu
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 18:31:34 +0200 (CEST)
To: <koglist(a)cogpsyphy.hu>
Subject: Konferencia-felhivas
Az alabbi felhivas szovegenek magyar valtozatat a level masodik resze
tartalmazza, ekezetek nelkul.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Linguistic Socialization, Language Acquisition and Language Disorders
dedicated to the memory of Zita Reger (1944-2001)
October 7-9 2002,
at the Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
(Budapest VI. Benczzr u. 33.).
The conference, organized jointly by the Research Institute of Linguistics
and
the Research Institute on National and Ethnic Minorities of the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences is set up to pay homage to the late Professor Zita
Reger, an outstanding linguist and teacher, former department head at the
Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The
conference will feature state-of-the-art presentations on the following
three
topics, which Zita Reger made significant contributions to during her
research
career:
A) Language acquisition, child language
B) Linguistic socialization, and language use in Gypsy communities
C) Aphasia research: lexicon, syntax and phonology in impaired language
Invited speakers:
Jean Berko Gleason (Boston University)
Csaba Pleh (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
Herman Kolk (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen)
Michael Stewart (University College London)
Susan Gal (University of Chicago)
The organizers invite anonymous abstracts for 30-minute talks which
will be delivered in three sessions, corresponding to the three topic
areas indicated above.
Official languages: Sessions A and C - English, Session B - English and
Hungarian.
Abstract presentation:
The maximum lenght of anonymous abstracts is two pages (single-space, Times
12
point or equivalent).
Abstracts should be written in one of the official languages of the session
they are intended to.
Electronic submission of abstracts (in rtf, i.e. Rich Text File format) is
strongly preferred.
Abstracts should be sent to the following address: utak(a)nytud.hu
Please make sure that the abstract contains no easily recognizable reference
to
your own work.
The abstracts should be accompanied by a separate page with the author's
name
and affiliation, title of abstract, e-mail address, mailing address, and
phone
and fax number.
If the author prefers submission of hard copies, they should be sent (in 5
copies without author's name + a separate page with the author's name, and
affiliation) to the following address:
Zoltan Banreti,
Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Budapest
P.O. Box 701/518.
1399
Hungary
Deadline for the submission of abstracts: June 10, 2002
Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their abstracts before July 1
2002
Registration fee (including coffee, abstracts, and a banquet):
before August 31: 40 USD
after August 31: 50 USD
Pre-registration rates only apply if payment is transferred to our account
prior to August 31:
Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Account no.: 10032000-01731732-00000000
Swift code: MANEHUHB
Students and scholars from Eastern and Central Europe can apply for special
grants covering the price of registration and/or accommodation when
submitting
their abstracts.
Further information about registration and accommodation (including special
rates offered to conference participants by hotels near the venue of the
conference) is available on our
website: www.nytud.hu/LSLALD/lslald.html.
On behalf of the organizers,
Zoltan Banreti, Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Linguistics,
Budapest
Laszlo Szarka, Director of the Research Institute on National and Ethnic
Minorities
************************************************************************
FELHIVAS KONFERENCIAN VALO RESZVETELRE
Az MTA Nyelvtudomanyi Intezete
es a Nemzeti-Etnikai Kisebbsegkutato Intezet
tudomanyos konferenciat szervez
Reger Zita (1944-2001) professzor emlekere:
Linguistic Socialization, Langauge Acquisition and Language Disorders cmmmel
2002. oktober 7. is 9. kozott az MTA Nyelvtudomanyi Intezeteben (Budapest
VI., Benczur utca 33.)
Reger Zita, a kivalp nyelvesz es tanar, az MTA Nyelvtudomanyi Intezetenek
volt osztalyvezetoje, elsosorban a szociolingvisztika, pszicholingvisztika
es neurolingvisztika teruleteinek kutatasaban ert el nemzetkozileg is
elismert eredmenyeket. Emleke elott uj tudomanyos eredmenyeket bemutato
eloadasokkal kivanunk tisztelegni, amelyek a kovetkezo harom temakor
valamelyikevel foglalkoznak:
a) Nyelvelsajatitas, gyermeknyelv
b) Nyelvi szocializacio es nyelvhasznalat a cigany kozossegekben
c) Afaziakutatas: a serult nyelv lexikonja, szintaxisa is fonologiaja
Meghivott eloadok:
Jean Berko Gleason (Boston University)
Plih Csaba (Budapesti Muszaki is Gazdasagtudomanyi Egyetem)
Herman Kolk (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen)
Michael Stewart (University College London)
Susan Gal (University of Chicago)
A szervezok varjak azok jelentkezeset, akik a fent megjelolt harom temakor
egyikeben eloadast tartananak. A jelentkezoktol eloadasuk anonim
absztraktjanak benyujtasat kerik. A tervezett eloadasok 30 percesek
lesznek.
A fenti a) is c) temakorokbeli szekciok hivatalos nyelve az angol. A fenti
b) temakorbeli szekciok hivatalos nyelve a magyar es az angol.
Az absztraktokat a kovetkezo formatumban kerjuk. Az anonim absztrakt
terjedelme maximum ket oldal legyen (egyes sortavval is 12 pontos Times
vagy annak megfelelo karakterekkel). Az absztrakt nyelve: a konferencia
kivalasztott szekciojanak hivatalos nyelve (ld. fent).
Kerjuk, hogy az absztraktokat lehetoleg elektronikus posta ztjan, is
lehetoleg rtf, azaz Rich Text File formaban kuldjek be a kovetkezo e-mail
cimre:
utak(a)nytud.hu
Egyuttal kerjuk, hogy az absztraktok lehetoleg ne tartalmazzanak a
szerzojuk nevere torteno, konnyen azonosithato hivatkozasokat.
Az absztraktokhoz egy kulon oldalon sziveskedjenek csatolni a kovetkezo
adatokat: a szerzo neve, intezmenye, az absztrakt cime, a szerzo e-mail
cime, illetve a postai cime, telefon- es faxszama.
Amennyiben a papir formaban torteno benyujtast reszesitene elonyben, ugy
kerjuk, az absztraktot 5 peldanyban, a szerzo nevenek feltuntetese nelkul
sziveskedjen benyujtani, es egy kulon lapon csatolni a szerzo nevet,
intezmenyet, postai es telefon, illetve fax elerhetoseget. Postacimunk:
Banreti Zoltan
A Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia Nyelvtudomanyi Intezete
Budapest,
Postafiok 701/518.
1399
Az absztraktok bekuldesenek hatarideje: 2002. junius 10.
A szerzoket 2002. julius 1-ig ertesitjuk absztraktjuk elfogadasarol.
A konferencia reszveteli dija (mely tobbek kozott magaban foglalja az
absztraktokat tartalmazs kotetet, az esti fogadason valo reszvetelt, es a
frissitoket a konferencia idejen):
2002.augusztus 31-ig torteno, elo-regisztracio eseten: 11.000Ft,
2002.augusztus 31. utani regisztracio eseten: 13.750Ft.
Az elo-regisztraciot akkor all modunkban alkalmazni, ha a reszveteli dijat
2002. augusztus 31-ig bezarolag atutalja az alabbi szamlaszamra:
A Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia Nyelvtudomanyi Intezete
Szamlaszam: 10032000-01731732-00000000
Swift kod: MANEHUHB
Kelet- es kozep europai kutatok szamara, tovabba diakok szamara mod nyilik
olyan tamogatas nyujtasara,amely a regisztracios dijat vagy pedig a
szallaskoltseget fedezi. Az erre vonatkozo kerest az absztrakt
benyujtasaval egyidejuleg lehet jelezni.
A regisztracio modjaval valamint a szallas lehetosgekkel (a konferencia
szinhelyehez kozeli szallodaknak a resztvevoknek ajanlott araival is
szolgaltatasaival) kapcsolatban fontos informaciok talalhatok a kovetkezo
web cimen:
www.nytud.hu/LSLALD/lslald.html
A szervezok neveben,
Banreti Zoltan, igazgatohelyettes, MTA Nyelvtudomanyi Intezet,
Szarka Laszlo, igazgato, MTA Nemzeti-Etnikai Kisebbsegkutato Intezet
Platón, Euthüdemosz
Várdy Péter
2002 április 18.-május 16. között Várdy Péter (Twente, Hollandia) öt előadást
tart Platón Euthüdemosz c. dialógusáról. Ez a komédia jellegű,
hangsúlyozottan színpadias dialógus Platón középperiódusából származik. A
Lykeion birkózóiskolájában folyik a szócsata, egyben vetélkedés Athén
ifjúságáért. Témája: a tudomány, a platonikus filozófia magvát érinti. A
dialógus Szókratészt és az igaz életvitel kérdéskörét két szofista fivér
szemfényvesztésével szembesíti. Előadásaink témái:
1. a dialógus felépítése;
2. szofista érvelési minták;
3. a cáfolók cáfolata: Szókratész eredeti érve, az öncáfolat;
4. önreferencialitás;
5. nevetség, gúny, irónia és az abszolútum.
Az előadások mindig csütörtöki napokon 17-19 –ig lesznek a BME Stoczek épület
IV.emelet 27-ben.
Minden érdeklődőt szívesen lát a
BME Filozófia és tud. tört. Tanszéke.
--
Laszlo E. Szabo
Department of Theoretical Physics
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University, Budapest
H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary
Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924
Home: (36-1) 200-7318
Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172
http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University
Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/A
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM
(http://hps.elte.hu/seminar)
________________________________________________
15 April 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54
(Language: English)
Evolutionary Moral Realism
John Collier
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research,
Altenberg, Austria
Moral realism is the view that moral kinds, such as values,
obligations, rights, duties and the like, are objective
kinds that ground moral "oughts". Moral naturalism is the
view that moral kinds can best be explained in naturalistic
terms. The evolutionary version of moral naturalism holds
that evolutionary explanations are central to satisfactory
naturalistic explanations of morality. Evolutionary moral
realism holds that there are moral natural kinds that can
ground moral "oughts", and that these kinds are best explained
in evolutionary terms.
In previous work we have argued that evolutionary naturalism
can be objective: John Collier and Michael Stingl, "Evolutionary
Naturalism and the Objectivity of Morality", Biology and
Philosophy 8 (1993): 47-60, reprinted in Paul Thompson,
ed., Issues in Evolutionary Ethics, SUNY Press, Albany,
1995, pp. 409-429. In this talk I will discuss what is at
stake, and how our view differs from other moral naturalisms
that try to reduce or eliminate moral kinds. In particular,
I will discuss why giving an evolutionary explanation of
morality does not need to commit the "is/ought" fallacy.
___________________
The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó
--
Laszlo E. Szabo
Department of Theoretical Physics
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University, Budapest
H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary
Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924
Home: (36-1) 200-7318
Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172
http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University
Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/A
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM
(http://hps.elte.hu/seminar)
________________________________________________
April program
8 April 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54
(Language: Hungarian)
Panel discussion:
A Godel-tetel filozofiai kovetkezmenyei
Philosophical upshot of Godel's theorem
Panelists:
Ferenc Csaba (Logic, Eotvos)
Janos Geier (Psychology, Eotvos)
Andras Mate (Logic, Eotvos)
Istvan Nemeti (Renyi Institute of Mathematics)
Moderator:
Laszlo E. Szabo (Theoretical Physics & HPS, Eotvos)
Iden unnepeljuk Bolyai Janos szuletesenek ketszazadik evfordulojat!
Bolyai, Gauss es Lobacsevszkij az elso nem-euklideszi geometriak
megalkotasaval inditottak el azt a folyamatot, amit a matematika
ontudatra ebredesenek nevezhetnenk. A matematika eme onreflexiojaval
a filozofia epitmenyenek masik tartopillere, a racionalizmus
is meginogni latszik. (Az elso, az empirizmus ugyanis mar
Hume ota aladucolasra szorul.) A 19. szazad vegere vilagos
volt, hogy ujra kell gondolnunk a matematika alapveto mibenletet.
Ugy tunik, a matematika -- ahogyan Russell megfogalmazta -- "olyan
tudomany, amelyben nem tudjuk mirol beszelunk, vagy hogy
igaz-e, amit mondunk". A matematikus szamara sem az axiomaknak, sem a beloluk
levezetett allitasoknak nincs jelentese, es nincs igazsaga. A matematikus
dolga a levezetes maga. Sokaig ugy tunt, hogy a Hilbert-fele
formalista/axiomatikus program a dolgokat a helyere teszi, mignem 1931-ben egy
fiatal Becsi matematikus, Kurt Godel kozzetette az "Uber
formal unentscheidbare Satze der Principia Mathematica und
verwandter Systeme" cimu dolgozatat. Altalanos
velekedes szerint, Godel eredmenyei lehetetlenne tettek
a formalista program folytatasat.
Tenyleg igy van-e? Hol tartunk most? Hogyan is kell pontosan
ertekelnunk Godel teteleit? Ezekket a kerdeseket fogjuk
megvitatni.
___________________
The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó
--
Laszlo E. Szabo
Department of Theoretical Physics
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eotvos University, Budapest
H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary
Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924
Home: (36-1) 200-7318
Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172
http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo