The Instruction of Imagination: Language as a Social Communication Technology by

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The Nile on eBay The Instruction of Imagination by Dr. Daniel Dor The book presents a new general theory of language as a collectively-constructed communication technology - not unlike the social media on the Net today - that is dedicated to a very particular communicative function: the instruction of imagination. The theory re-frames all the major questions in the linguistic sciences, and opens the way towards the re-unification of the field. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description The book suggests a new perspective on the essence of human language. This enormous achievement of our species is best characterized as a communication technology - not unlike the social media on the Net today - that was collectively invented by ancient humans for a very particular communicative function: the instruction of imagination. All other systems of communication in the biological world target the interlocutors' senses; language allows speakers tosystematically instruct their interlocutors in the process of imagining the intended meaning - instead of directly experiencing it. This revolutionary function has changed human life forever, and in the book itoperates as a unifying concept around which a new general theory of language gradually emerges. Dor identifies a set of fundamental problems in the linguistic sciences - the nature of words, the complexities of syntax, the interface between semantics and pragmatics, the causal relationship between language and thought, language processing, the dialectics of universality and variability, the intricacies of language and power, knowledge of language and its acquisition, the fragility oflinguistic communication and the origins and evolution of language - and shows with respect to all of them how the theory provides fresh answers to the problems, resolves persistent difficulties in existingaccounts, enhances the significance of empirical and theoretical achievements in the field, and identifies new directions for empirical research. The theory thus opens a new way towards the unification of the linguistic sciences, on both sides of the cognitive-social divide. Author Biography Daniel Dor received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford University, and he is currently head of the Department of Communication, Tel Aviv University. He has written extensively on a wide variety of issues: the relationship between semantics and syntax, the pragmatics of newspaper headlines, the emergence of a new sociolinguistic regime on the Internet, the construction of political ideology in the language of the media, and thecultural-biological evolution of language and its speakers. Table of Contents 1. Introduction2. The Functional Specificity of Language3. How the Technology Works4. Sign and Meaning5. The Spiral of Relativity6. Production and Comprehension7. The Social Autonomy of Syntax8. The Universality of Diversity9. Acquisition as a Collective Enterprise10. The Evolution of Language and its Users11. ConclusionReferences Review For anyone interested in language and how it works in modern day society, Dor offers a compelling account of competing positions in discourse linguistics...Overall, Dor's book has the potential to establish a new foundation for a communicative socially-based linguistic theory. Dor offers a framework for bringing together the two sides of linguistics which typically form psycholinguistics and socio-linguistics, and the book is about unpacking the tensions across the cognitive-social divide that can be said to be at play in trying to theorize new constructs. * Gavin Budge, The British Society for Literature and Science * Long Description The book suggests a new perspective on the essence of human language. This enormous achievement of our species is best characterized as a communication technology - not unlike the social media on the Net today - that was collectively invented by ancient humans for a very particular communicative function: the instruction of imagination. All other systems of communication in the biological world target the interlocutors' senses; language allows speakers to systematically instruct their interlocutors in the process of imagining the intended meaning - instead of directly experiencing it. This revolutionary function has changed human life forever, and in the book it operates as a unifying concept around which a new general theory of language gradually emerges. Dor identifies a set of fundamental problems in the linguistic sciences - the nature of words, the complexities of syntax, the interface between semantics and pragmatics, the causal relationship between language and thought, language processing, the dialectics of universality and variability, the intricacies of language and power, knowledge of language and its acquisition, the fragility of linguistic communication and the origins and evolution of language - and shows with respect to all of them how the theory provides fresh answers to the problems, resolves persistent difficulties in existing accounts, enhances the significance of empirical and theoretical achievements in the field, and identifies new directions for empirical research. The theory thus opens a new way towards the unification of the linguistic sciences, on both sides of the cognitive-social divide. Review Quote For anyone interested in language and how it works in modern day society, Dor offers a compelling account of competing positions in discourse linguistics...Overall, Dor's book has the potential to establish a new foundation for a communicative socially-based linguistic theory. Dor offers a framework for bringing together the two sides of linguistics which typically form psycholinguistics and socio-linguistics, and the book is about unpacking the tensions across thecognitive-social divide that can be said to be at play in trying to theorize new constructs. Feature Selling point: Introduces a synthetic theory that takes theoretical questions and empirical results from all the linguistic science, re-interprets, re-arranges and re-connects them in new ways Selling point: Suggests new and unified answers to the aforementioned theoretical questions and empirical results Selling point: Proposes a paradigm shift in the domain of Linguistics that has been dominated for so long by Chomsky and his framework Details ISBN 0190256621 Language English ISBN-10 0190256621 ISBN-13 9780190256623 Format Hardcover Year 2015 Short Title INSTRUCTION OF IMAGINATION Media Book DEWEY 401 Subtitle Language as a Social Communication Technology Pages 280 Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Publisher Oxford University Press Inc Author Dr. Daniel Dor Publication Date 2015-08-27 UK Release Date 2015-08-27 AU Release Date 2015-08-27 NZ Release Date 2015-08-27 US Release Date 2015-08-27 Series Foundations of Human Interaction Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Audience Undergraduate We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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