Linguistics Article

Proper Names

Proper names have been hotly debated within the philosophy of language and linguistics. People, in their attempts to account for what proper names are, have constructed numerous theories; in fact, this debate can go all the way back to Mill’s theory of names. Within the modern times, there are two theories, namely, the descriptivist and causal chain theory. In this article, I discuss each theory. As well, I discuss John Searle’s critique of those theories, provide my own critique, and offer a new approach for the problem of proper names.

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Linguistics Article

The Language of Religion

Thus, it is my intent to analyze religious thought through the lens of cognitive linguistics; to apply the research and theories of that academic discipline to the language and ideas of religion. In particular, we shall consider how image schemas and conceptual metaphors contribute to our understanding of a specific religious idea; that being, the idea that God is everything, an omnipotent mind which is spread throughout all of existence.

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Linguistics Article

How Scientific Language Differs From Ordinary Language

In the study of Psychology, there is a separation between everyday psychological language and scientific language. The difference in these two modes of language stems from the scientific conception of term-meaning and the layperson’s conception of term meaning. Indeed, there is a separation between the two, and many do not realize it because common sense psychology is composed of our natural intuitions about ourselves and others.

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Linguistics Article

Logic Cannot Explain Language

The Philosophy of language, which consists of many schools of thought concerned with the investigation of language, has become increasingly popular over the years. Because of such, the field has already experienced two major paradigm shifts and plenty of contentious debates within the lifetimes of its proponents. However, despite the growth in popularity and rapid introduction of new ideas, the growth in interdisciplinary perspectives inside this area of language investigation has yet to occur. Among the many debates and ideas about language, a lack of consideration about the neural and cognitive processes involved in language is quite evident.

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