Language and Learning
Language and Learning
Hellenistic philosophers and scholars laid the foundations upon which Western tradition developed analytical grammar, linguistics, philosophy of language and other disciplines. Building on the pioneering work of Plato, Aristotle and earlier thinkers, they developed a wide range of theories about the nature and origin of language. Ten essays explore the ancient theories, their philosophical adequacy, and their impact on later thinkers from Augustine through the Middle Ages.
- International team of experts examines key developments in the study of human language during the Hellenistic period
- Explores the influence of classical theories of language on those of later periods, notably the Middle Ages
- Wide-ranging in scope and with a new and substantial introductory essay
Reviews & endorsements
"The carefully-edited volume includes useful indexes and a bibliography. All significant Greek and Latin quotations are presented both in the original and in translation. This collection covers an area that deserves attention, and is essential reading for those who study Hellenistic philosophy."
Laura Grams, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Journal of the History of Philosophy
"Scrupulously researched and thought-provoking, but also very entertaining...There is a great deal of food for thought here. All in all an excellent volume, and a worthy member of the series." --Phoenix: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada
Product details
August 2008Paperback
9780521071253
368 pages
225 × 152 × 21 mm
0.54kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction Dorothea Frede and Brad Inwood
- 1. The Stoics on the origin of language and the foundations of etymology James Allen
- 2. Stoic linguistics, Plato's Cratylus, and Augustine's De dialectica A. A. Long
- 3. Epicurus and his predecessors on the origin of language Alexander Verlinsky
- 4. Lucretius on what language is not Catherine Atherton
- 5. Communicating cynicism: Diogenes' gangsta rap Ineke Sluiter
- 6. Common sense: concepts, definition and meaning in and out of the Stoa Charles Brittain
- 7. Varro's anti-analogist David Blank
- 8. The Stoics on fallacies of equivocation Susanne Bobzien
- 9. What is a disjunction? Jonathan Barnes
- 10. Theories of language in the Hellenistic age and in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Sten Ebbesen.
