Why does semantics matter to the study of religion?

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans H. Penner
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
Principle Of Charity ◽  
Truth Conditional ◽  
Theories Of Meaning ◽  
The Brain

AbstractBeware of meaning! Meaning is not an entity. It does not refer to anything. This essay is an attempt to describe Donald Davidson's theory of semantics. It took Davidson some time to realize that his truth conditional theory of meaning entailed a radical repudiation of traditional correspondence and coherence theories of meaning. We now have a third theoretical alternative in semantics. In this theory "truth" is left undefined. It is essential that you grasp firmly the fact that truth does not refer, or, "connect-up" anything that makes a sentence true. That is the work of epistemology, or perhaps psycho-neurology. The first theoretical task, therefore, is to describe truth, or meaning, as "convention-T". The second principle, the principle of charity, provides an explanation for testing the theory. The third principle, the principle of holism, provides the theoretical framework for truth-conditions and charity. The theory provides new and powerful refutations of relativism and the notion that semantics must be reduced to the function of the brain, sensations, specific stimuli, and the like. It also provides warrants for denying that religion is "symbolic" of experience of the numinous, the sacred, or other "given" foundations of what might be described as "religious experience". Davidson's theory has important, if not radical, consequences for the study of religion. The essay briefly describes a few of these.

scholarly journals Kann man die Gebrauchstheorie der Bedeutung in der Semantik gebrauchen?

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (29) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Klaus Robering
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Theoretical Underpinning ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
The Third ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
Linguistic Sign ◽  
Theories Of Meaning

The following article deals with some aspects of special theories of meaning – namely those which consider the meaning of a linguistic sign as a function of its use. Although this approach to meaning is commonly attributed to Wittgenstein, I do not aim at an interpretation or exegesis of this philosopher but rather at a systematic discussion of meaning-as-use-theories. In the first section, I discuss the very notion of a theory of meaning. The next section provides a list of criteria which a theory of meaning should fulfill in order to be a meaning-as-use-theory. The formal architecture of semantic theories is discussed in the third section and – dealing with the simpler case of a referential theory of meaning as an example – the fourth section explains how semantic theories are given a theoretical underpinning by being interpreted within a theory of meaning. The same is done for the case of meaning-as-use-theories in the final section.

ADRENOCORTICAL FUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE SEVERE BRAIN AND PITUITARY LESION

1962 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. H. Bassøe ◽  
R. Emberland ◽  
E. Glück ◽  
K. F. Støa
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Adrenal Cortex ◽  
Artificial Ventilation ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Adrenocortical Function ◽  
The Third ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Pituitary Lesion ◽  
Steroid Excretion ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACT The steroid excretion and the plasma corticosteroids were investigated in three patients with necrosis of the brain and of the pituitary gland. The patients were kept alive by artificial ventilation. In two of the patients the neutral 17-ketosteroids and the 17-hydrocorticosteroids fell to extremely low levels. At the same time, the number of eosinophil cells showed a tendency to increase. Corticotrophin administered intravenously twice to the third patient had a stimulating effect on the adrenal cortex. The theoretical and practical significance of these findings is discussed.

Neuro-Clinical Signatures of Language Impairments: A Theoretical Framework for Function-to-structure Mapping in Clinics

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 800-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferath Kherif ◽  
Sandrine Muller
Keyword(s):  
Brain Mapping ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Language Impairments ◽  
Structure Mapping ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Recovery ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Bow Tie

In the past decades, neuroscientists and clinicians have collected a considerable amount of data and drastically increased our knowledge about the mapping of language in the brain. The emerging picture from the accumulated knowledge is that there are complex and combinatorial relationships between language functions and anatomical brain regions. Understanding the underlying principles of this complex mapping is of paramount importance for the identification of the brain signature of language and Neuro-Clinical signatures that explain language impairments and predict language recovery after stroke. We review recent attempts to addresses this question of language-brain mapping. We introduce the different concepts of mapping (from diffeomorphic one-to-one mapping to many-to-many mapping). We build those different forms of mapping to derive a theoretical framework where the current principles of brain architectures including redundancy, degeneracy, pluri-potentiality and bow-tie network are described.

The Meditations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Ott
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Experience ◽  
Developmental Reading ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Brain Image ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Third ◽  
Real Work ◽  
Sensible Qualities ◽  
The Brain

Despite its difference in aspiration, the Meditations preserves the basic structure of perceptual experience outlined in Descartes’s earliest works. The chapter explores Descartes’s notion of an idea and uses a developmental reading to clear up the mystery surrounding material falsity. In the third Meditation, our protagonist does not yet know enough about extension in order to be able to tell whether her idea of cold is an idea of a real feature of bodies or merely the idea of a sensation. By the time she reaches the end of her reflections, she has learned that sensible qualities are at most sensations. As in his earliest stages, Descartes believes that the real work of perceiving the geometrical qualities of bodies is done by the brain image, which he persists in calling an ‘idea,’ at least when it is the object of mental awareness.

The effect of hypophysectomy on physiological color change in Fundulus heteroclitus

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. S. Abbott ◽  
M. B. Favreau
Keyword(s):  
Histological Examination ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Color Change ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Brain

Thirty-eight Fundulus heteroclitus were tested for ability to adapt to white and black backgrounds. They were then hypophysectomized and distributed individually to white and black containers. Their ability to adapt to background was determined for periods up to 2 weeks. Sixteen operated fish retained their preoperative ability to adapt; 8 became dark temporarily; 14 became persistently dark. Histological examination confirmed the result of the operation. In the third group of fish the persistent darkness was not associated with damage to specific areas of the brain although damage was more widespread in this group. It is concluded that hypophysectomy does not interfere with physiological color change in F. heteroclitus. The location of the central relays in the melanophore system could not be determined.

Experimental Third Ventriculostomy Performed Using Endovascular Surgical Techniques and Their Adaptation to Percutaneous Intradural Neuronavigation: Proof of Concept Cadaver Study

Neurosurgery ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Horowitz ◽  
Kamal Ramzipoor ◽  
Ajit Nair ◽  
Susan Miller ◽  
George Rappard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Third Ventricle ◽  
Surgical Techniques ◽  
Cadaver Study ◽  
Brain Parenchyma ◽  
Third Ventriculostomy ◽  
General Anesthetic ◽  
The Third ◽  
Noncommunicating Hydrocephalus ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
The Brain

Abstract OBJECTIVE Endoscopic third ventriculostomy has developed into a therapeutic alternative to shunting for the management of carefully selected patients with primarily noncommunicating hydrocephalus. This procedure, however, requires a general anesthetic and necessitates violation of the brain parenchyma and manipulation near vital neural structures to access the floor of the third ventricle. Using two cadavers and off-the-shelf angiographic catheters, we sought to determine whether it was possible to navigate a catheter, angioplasty balloon, and stent percutaneously through the subarachnoid space from the thecal sac into the third ventricle so as to perform a third ventriculostomy from below. METHODS Using biplane angiography and off-the-shelf angiographic catheters along with angioplasty balloons and stents, we were able to pass a stent coaxially from the thecal sac to and across the floor of the third ventricle so as to achieve a third ventriculostomy from below. RESULTS Coaxial catheter techniques allowed for the percutaneous insertion of a stent across the floor of the third ventricle. Ventriculostomy was confirmed by injecting contrast medium into the lateral ventricle and seeing it pass through the stent and into the chiasmatic cistern. CONCLUSION We describe the performance of third ventriculostomies in two cadavers by use of the new concept of percutaneous intradural neuronavigation. This procedure may obviate the need for general anesthetic and minimize the potential for brain and vascular injury, especially if ultimately combined with magnetic resonance fluoroscopy.

Naming and Indexicality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Bochner
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Critical Survey ◽  
Advanced Students ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Truth Conditional ◽  
Epistemic Constraints ◽  
Theories Of Meaning

How do words stand for things? Taking ideas from philosophical semantics and pragmatics, this book offers a unique, detailed, and critical survey of central debates concerning linguistic reference in the twentieth century. It then uses the survey to identify and argue for a novel version of current 'two-dimensional' theories of meaning, which generalise the context-dependency of indexical expressions. The survey highlights the history of tensions between semantic and epistemic constraints on plausible theories of word meaning, from analytic philosophy and modern truth-conditional semantics, to the Referentialist and Externalist revolutions in theories of meaning, to the more recent reconciliatory ambition of two-dimensionalists. It clearly introduces technical semantical notions, theses, and arguments, with easy-to-follow, step-by-step guides. Wide-ranging in its scope, yet offering an accessible route into literature that can seem complex and technical, this will be essential reading for advanced students, and academic researchers in semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language.

Migrants, Metaphors and Manipulation: a Multimodal Case Study of Trump’s Speeches on Immigration (2015-2017)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bérengère Lafiandra
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
The Third ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Linguistic Aspect

This article intends to analyze the use of metaphors in a corpus of Donald Trump’s speeches on immigration; its main goal is to determine how migrants were depicted in the 2016 American presidential election, and how metaphor manipulated voters in the creation of this image. This study is multimodal since not only the linguistic aspect of speeches but also gestures are considered. The first part consists in presenting an overview of the theories on metaphor. It provides the theoretical framework and develops the main tenets of the ‘Conceptual Metaphor Theory’ (CMT). The second part deals with multimodality and presents what modes and gestures are. The third part provides the corpus and methodology. The last part consists in the corpus study and provides the main source domains as well as other rhetorical tools that are used by Trump to depict migrants and manipulate voters.

scholarly journals Morphology of the vertebral artery in Asian population

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 84-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryna Alfaouri-Kornieieva ◽  
Azmy M Al-Hadidi
Keyword(s):  
Vertebral Artery ◽  
Asian Population ◽  
Outer Diameter ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
The Third ◽  
Asian Patients ◽  
Distal Loop ◽  
The Right ◽  
Occipital Lobes ◽  
The Brain

Background: Recent clinical trials have shown a rising trend of stroke in Asian population. Approximately 20% strokes of total occur at the vertebrobasilar basin that supplies the occipital lobes of the brain, the cerebellum, and the brainstem. The anatomical features and variability of the third segment of the vertebral artery (VA) in Asians are analyzed in this study. Methods: A prospective cohort study of 68 consecutive Asian patients underwent MRA examination for head and neck in the Department of Radiology of Hospital of University of Jordan from 1.10.2011 to 30.04.2012. The 116 VA were analyzed on the obtained angiograms. Results: The third segment (V3) of the VA was studied according to its conventional division into vertical, horizontal, and oblique parts. The mean outer diameter of the V3 varied up 3.18 ± 0.73 to 4.28 ± 1.08 mm. The parameter prevailed on the left in 91% cases and was greater in males, than in females. The distal loop of the VA projected downward in 26 cases on the right (78%) and in 28 cases on the left (74%). The tortuosity of loop?formations of V3 was evaluated subject to angles between their ascending and descending bends. Conclusion: In comparison with other ethnic groups, the V3 of the VA in Asians has lesser outer diameter, especially along its oblique part; the zero?distance between the occipital bone and horizontal segment of VA occurs more often (up to 26%); the Lang’s III type of V3 variability is the most common in Asians. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v5i4.6150 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 2014 Vol.5(4); 84-88

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