The Magic of the Generic: An Critique of the Studies on Generic Sentences
Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the cla... more Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind. Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.
Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a
challenge to the cl... more Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind. Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.
C. in his article The Institutional Use of "The" makes a clear distinction between an individual ... more C. in his article The Institutional Use of "The" makes a clear distinction between an individual concept (an elephant) and its kind (the Elephant). He argues that while an elephant or a bird hints at an individual entity, the "The" we are dealing with institutionalizes these concepts. Drawing strength from the linguistic practice of "The" preceding names of institutions (The Statesman for instance), Langford"s thesis seeks to make clear demarcation between the properties of an individual element and that of the "institution" or, in our terms, the kind. In an attempt to define the relationship between the individual and the kind, Langford resorts to the notions of intrinsic and extrinsic relational properties. In a set of elements (eg. the Elephant) if the property K is shared by all the individual elements, then the property should be defined as the intrinsic property of that set (read kind) or else the property is extrinsic. In the set of all real numbers, for instance, if the property of being a real number is marked by R then R is the intrinsic property of the set. Now, in the same set, there are numbers that are multiples of 2 and the property of being a multiple of two may be named M. This M is intrinsic to those multiples but not an intrinsic property of the whole set. This M is an extrinsic property. What Wilfrid Sellars names "distributive singular" (Sellars 1963) does not put Langford in trouble in any substantial way. Sellars shows that a reference to kind does not necessarily call for an institutional "The". Sentences with distributive singular subjects, such as "Man is mortal", fare quite well without Langford"s determiner and may still be institutionalised. These singulars are distributive as although they refer to a "one" (a particular kind) they may be reduced to "manys" (a kind includes members sharing similar properties). Speculations on whether or not this is immediately reminiscent of Badiou"s concern about "one" as "count-as-one" (Badiou 2005) should be kept at bay for the time being. But what must be stated in clear terms is that Langford"s thesis was less concerned about the determiner than the dichotomy of reference to a kind and a definite entity. He certainly proposed that "The" institutionalizes instances/ individuals but was far from concluding that it was the only way. The "distributive singular" expands Langford"s horizon rather than undoing it. Sellars (1963) marks his distinction most prominent by introducing the idea of "abstract entities" or distributive entities. The claim that kinds are sets of instances or mere institutionalization of real "pieces" is refuted. Let us consider the following sentences cited in Sellars" article as foundations on which his argument stands:
Last few decades have witnessed a large pool of Indian students enrolling with various tutorial h... more Last few decades have witnessed a large pool of Indian students enrolling with various tutorial homes across the country with a view to attain success in various examinations. These tutorial homes (which actually could be considered a penumbra of the entire education system) often claim to bring out the latent potential along with preparing them for competitive tests. This paper seeks to show that nourishment of a student's originality and talent calls for an atmosphere of 'mutual-aid' and not that of competition. Analysing the web content of various well known tutorial homes, this paper shows that their inclination to encourage, in Habermasian terms, teleological action that realises instrumental rationality at the cost of communicative action (that realises epistemic rationality) is apparent in the language of these websites. The student is seen as a machine of competition. This upsets the milieu of social cooperation. The discursive strategies surfacing in the data are analysed by dint of a cognitive model of CDA, namely construal operations.
Classrooms are meant to facilitate exchange and diffusion of knowledge but we often find the same... more Classrooms are meant to facilitate exchange and diffusion of knowledge but we often find the same environment impeding the students' access to the lesson. A student, within a classroom environment, is typically constrained by numerous strictures, which play decisive role(s) in shaping up her ability and allowing her right to participate in the discourse. These constraints are functional in manufacturing membership for a section of students while excluding others; i.e., on one hand, they constitute social situations where a section of students is able to take part in a discourse, while another section is left out. Language plays a crucial role in the constitution of the membership of and exclusion from a particular order of discourse . This paper seeks to look into how the classroom talk exhibits overt and covert power relations between the teacher and the student. It examines how the power in classroom discourse (Fairclough 2001) preserves and devices the divide between member and non-member students within a classroom. With recourse to critical discourse analysis (CDA), this research shows how different linguistic or, more precisely, discursive constraints play a key role in the assignment of membership and in the promotion of exclusion. Following Fairclough (2001) this paper investigates, how content, relation and subjectpositions are construed by means of language within a classroom situation. The research takes the analysis of classroom exchanges as the chief measure to substantiate its claim. We seek to focus on (i) Conversation between the teacher and the student or the Repartee discourse and (ii) Class lectures or the Expository discourse . It is important to mention that we do not strictly go with the definitions of Repartee and Expository discourses offered by . The critical theories have provided us with ample reason to conclude that it is difficult to classify discourses into strict watertight compartments. We broadly use these terms to mean conversational exchange and a running flow of speech aimed at explanation and argument respectively.
International Journal of Human-computer Studies / International Journal of Man-machine Studies, Jan 1, 1987
This paper is concerned with the use of discourse analysis and observation to elicit expert knowl... more This paper is concerned with the use of discourse analysis and observation to elicit expert knowledge. In particular, we describe the use of these techniques to acquire knowledge about expert problem solving in an information provision environment. Our method of analysis has been to make audio-recordings of real-life information interactions between users (the clients) and human intermediaries (the experts) in document retrieval situations. These tapes have then been transcribed and analysed utterance-by-utterance in the following ways: assigning utterances to one of the prespecified functional categories; identifying the specific purposes of each utterance; determining the knowledge required to perform each utterance; grouping utterances into functional and focus-based sequences. The long-term goal of the project is to develop an intelligent document retrieval system based on a distributed expert, blackboard architecture.
Discourse dynamics: Critical analysis for social and individual psychology
Abstract 1. In this exciting new text Ian Parker provides one of the clearest and most systematic... more Abstract 1. In this exciting new text Ian Parker provides one of the clearest and most systematic introductions to discourse research and essential theoretical debates in the area. It is one of the few texts to defend a realist position, discuss accounts of postmodernity and ...
This paper discusses some principles of critical discourse analysis, such as the explicit sociopo... more This paper discusses some principles of critical discourse analysis, such as the explicit sociopolitical stance of discourse analysts, and a focus on dominance relations by elite groups and institutions as they are being enacted, legitimated or otherwise reproduced by text and talk. One of the crucial elements of this analysis of the relations between power and discourse is the patterns of access to (public) discourse for different social groups. Theoretically it is shown that in order to be able to relate power and discourse in an explicit way, we need the cognitive interface of models. knowledge, attitudes and ideologies and other social representations of the social mind, which also relate the individual and the social, and the micro-and the macro-levels of social structure. Finally, the argument is illustrated with an analysis of parliamentary debates about ethnic affairs.
The Magic of the Generic: An Critique of the Studies on Generic Sentences
Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the cla... more Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind. Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.
Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a
challenge to the cl... more Generic sentences (eg. Birds fly or Cows have four legs) have always posed a challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind. Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.
C. in his article The Institutional Use of "The" makes a clear distinction between an individual ... more C. in his article The Institutional Use of "The" makes a clear distinction between an individual concept (an elephant) and its kind (the Elephant). He argues that while an elephant or a bird hints at an individual entity, the "The" we are dealing with institutionalizes these concepts. Drawing strength from the linguistic practice of "The" preceding names of institutions (The Statesman for instance), Langford"s thesis seeks to make clear demarcation between the properties of an individual element and that of the "institution" or, in our terms, the kind. In an attempt to define the relationship between the individual and the kind, Langford resorts to the notions of intrinsic and extrinsic relational properties. In a set of elements (eg. the Elephant) if the property K is shared by all the individual elements, then the property should be defined as the intrinsic property of that set (read kind) or else the property is extrinsic. In the set of all real numbers, for instance, if the property of being a real number is marked by R then R is the intrinsic property of the set. Now, in the same set, there are numbers that are multiples of 2 and the property of being a multiple of two may be named M. This M is intrinsic to those multiples but not an intrinsic property of the whole set. This M is an extrinsic property. What Wilfrid Sellars names "distributive singular" (Sellars 1963) does not put Langford in trouble in any substantial way. Sellars shows that a reference to kind does not necessarily call for an institutional "The". Sentences with distributive singular subjects, such as "Man is mortal", fare quite well without Langford"s determiner and may still be institutionalised. These singulars are distributive as although they refer to a "one" (a particular kind) they may be reduced to "manys" (a kind includes members sharing similar properties). Speculations on whether or not this is immediately reminiscent of Badiou"s concern about "one" as "count-as-one" (Badiou 2005) should be kept at bay for the time being. But what must be stated in clear terms is that Langford"s thesis was less concerned about the determiner than the dichotomy of reference to a kind and a definite entity. He certainly proposed that "The" institutionalizes instances/ individuals but was far from concluding that it was the only way. The "distributive singular" expands Langford"s horizon rather than undoing it. Sellars (1963) marks his distinction most prominent by introducing the idea of "abstract entities" or distributive entities. The claim that kinds are sets of instances or mere institutionalization of real "pieces" is refuted. Let us consider the following sentences cited in Sellars" article as foundations on which his argument stands:
Last few decades have witnessed a large pool of Indian students enrolling with various tutorial h... more Last few decades have witnessed a large pool of Indian students enrolling with various tutorial homes across the country with a view to attain success in various examinations. These tutorial homes (which actually could be considered a penumbra of the entire education system) often claim to bring out the latent potential along with preparing them for competitive tests. This paper seeks to show that nourishment of a student's originality and talent calls for an atmosphere of 'mutual-aid' and not that of competition. Analysing the web content of various well known tutorial homes, this paper shows that their inclination to encourage, in Habermasian terms, teleological action that realises instrumental rationality at the cost of communicative action (that realises epistemic rationality) is apparent in the language of these websites. The student is seen as a machine of competition. This upsets the milieu of social cooperation. The discursive strategies surfacing in the data are analysed by dint of a cognitive model of CDA, namely construal operations.
Classrooms are meant to facilitate exchange and diffusion of knowledge but we often find the same... more Classrooms are meant to facilitate exchange and diffusion of knowledge but we often find the same environment impeding the students' access to the lesson. A student, within a classroom environment, is typically constrained by numerous strictures, which play decisive role(s) in shaping up her ability and allowing her right to participate in the discourse. These constraints are functional in manufacturing membership for a section of students while excluding others; i.e., on one hand, they constitute social situations where a section of students is able to take part in a discourse, while another section is left out. Language plays a crucial role in the constitution of the membership of and exclusion from a particular order of discourse . This paper seeks to look into how the classroom talk exhibits overt and covert power relations between the teacher and the student. It examines how the power in classroom discourse (Fairclough 2001) preserves and devices the divide between member and non-member students within a classroom. With recourse to critical discourse analysis (CDA), this research shows how different linguistic or, more precisely, discursive constraints play a key role in the assignment of membership and in the promotion of exclusion. Following Fairclough (2001) this paper investigates, how content, relation and subjectpositions are construed by means of language within a classroom situation. The research takes the analysis of classroom exchanges as the chief measure to substantiate its claim. We seek to focus on (i) Conversation between the teacher and the student or the Repartee discourse and (ii) Class lectures or the Expository discourse . It is important to mention that we do not strictly go with the definitions of Repartee and Expository discourses offered by . The critical theories have provided us with ample reason to conclude that it is difficult to classify discourses into strict watertight compartments. We broadly use these terms to mean conversational exchange and a running flow of speech aimed at explanation and argument respectively.
International Journal of Human-computer Studies / International Journal of Man-machine Studies, Jan 1, 1987
This paper is concerned with the use of discourse analysis and observation to elicit expert knowl... more This paper is concerned with the use of discourse analysis and observation to elicit expert knowledge. In particular, we describe the use of these techniques to acquire knowledge about expert problem solving in an information provision environment. Our method of analysis has been to make audio-recordings of real-life information interactions between users (the clients) and human intermediaries (the experts) in document retrieval situations. These tapes have then been transcribed and analysed utterance-by-utterance in the following ways: assigning utterances to one of the prespecified functional categories; identifying the specific purposes of each utterance; determining the knowledge required to perform each utterance; grouping utterances into functional and focus-based sequences. The long-term goal of the project is to develop an intelligent document retrieval system based on a distributed expert, blackboard architecture.
Discourse dynamics: Critical analysis for social and individual psychology
Abstract 1. In this exciting new text Ian Parker provides one of the clearest and most systematic... more Abstract 1. In this exciting new text Ian Parker provides one of the clearest and most systematic introductions to discourse research and essential theoretical debates in the area. It is one of the few texts to defend a realist position, discuss accounts of postmodernity and ...
This paper discusses some principles of critical discourse analysis, such as the explicit sociopo... more This paper discusses some principles of critical discourse analysis, such as the explicit sociopolitical stance of discourse analysts, and a focus on dominance relations by elite groups and institutions as they are being enacted, legitimated or otherwise reproduced by text and talk. One of the crucial elements of this analysis of the relations between power and discourse is the patterns of access to (public) discourse for different social groups. Theoretically it is shown that in order to be able to relate power and discourse in an explicit way, we need the cognitive interface of models. knowledge, attitudes and ideologies and other social representations of the social mind, which also relate the individual and the social, and the micro-and the macro-levels of social structure. Finally, the argument is illustrated with an analysis of parliamentary debates about ethnic affairs.
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challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth
conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be
rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who
do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is
interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind.
Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This
paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists
on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a
conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues
concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.
Books by Abhisek Sarkar
Drafts by Abhisek Sarkar
challenge to the classical calculi of logical semantics as they do violate truth
conditions in the sense that they allow exceptions. A generic cannot be
rendered flawed in spite of the fact that there are birds like emu and ostrich who
do not fly and there are cows who do not have all the four legs. Hence it is
interesting to enquire as in how the generics are computed in human mind.
Linguists of various hues have enquired into the semantics of generics. This
paper presents a critique of the major theoretical proposals put forth by linguists
on the nature of these generics. This article refrains from providing a
conclusive answer to the question but provides cues about the salient issues
concerning the theorization of the semantics of generic sentences.