Biological Foundations of Linguistic Communication: Towards a Biocybernetics of Language (Pragmatics & Beyond)

Annotation This is the second of two volumes the first volume being Waltraud Brennenstuhl s Control and Ability (P & B III:4) treating biocybernetical questions of language. This book starts out from an investigation of the (neuro- )biological relevancy of natural language from the point of view of grammar and the lexicon. Furthermore, the basic mechanisms of the self-organization of organisms in their environments are discussed, in so far as they lead to linguistic control and abilities P&B III:7 BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION Towards a Biocybernetics of Language 1 Editorial page 2 Tilte page 3 Copyright page 4 PREFACE 5 Table of contents 8 1. LINGUISTICS AND BIOLOGY 10 Part I: LANGUAGE AND BIOLOGICAL STRUCTUFOE 22 2. NEUROBIOLOGY, GRAMMAR AND LEXICON 24 2.1. Two Kinds of Linguistics 24 2.2 Grammar and Neurology 27 2.3. A Methodically Well-founded Ordering Procedure for Linguistic Information 31 MODELS 32 MODEL GROUPS 33 2.4. Brain Structures 33 2.5. The Correlation between Verb Thesaurus Structure and the Stages of Development of the Central Organ 36 2.6. A Geometro-Dynamical Approach to Explanation 37 2.6.1 Introductory Remarks on a General Theory of Dynamic Systems 37 2.6.2 The Nature of the Cerebral Structure 37 2.6.3 The Nature of the Verb Thesaurus Structure 38 2.6.4 Two Aspects of the Same Matter 39 2.6.5 Language and Brain, an Empirical Hypothesis 40 Part II: THE EVOLUTION OF COGNITION AND COMMUNICATION 44 3.DYNAMICS OF ACTION AND PERCEPTION: BLASTEMATICS AND PRORHEMATICS Towards a Procedural Biolinguistics 46 3.1. Language and Linguistics 46 3.2. On the Limits of Linguistics 46 3.3. A Research Programme 47 3.4. Contextual Evolution of Communicative Abilities 50 3.4.1 Evolution 51 3.4.2 (Linguistic) Abilities 53 3.5. The Geometrizer, a Prototypical Example 55 3.6. A Prospect of the Blastematic Enterprise 65 3.7. Geometrizer, Blastematics and Prorhematics 65 3.8. Refining, Extending and Going Beyond the Geometrizer 68 3.8.1 On Refining the Geometrizer 69 3.8.2 On Extending the Geometrizer 71 3.8.3 Going Beyond the Geometrizer 76 3.8.3.1 Structuring Substantial Evolution: A Lexico-Semantic Task 76 (i) The Evolution of Organisms and Processes 76 (ii) The Structure of the Set of Processes 77 3.8.3.2 Towards a Blastematic Foundation of Linguistic Phenomena 80 (i) Introductory Remarks 80 (ii) How to Proceed 81 (iii) From Grasping to Action and Linguistic Communication 83 (iv) Some Further Notes on Grasping 87 (v) Grasping and Perception 87 3.9. Approaching Prorhematics 88 3.9.1 Blastematic State Sequences and Blastematic Situation Sequences 88 3.9.2. Stage Analyses of Action, Perception and Linguistic Communication 89 a. Some Stages of the Evolution of Action in the Infant 89 b. Some Stages Leading to the Linguistic Action of Asking (for Help) 91 c. Some Stages Leading to the Free Creation of Wishes 91 d. The Development of Reference 91 (i) Some Stages of the Development of the Act of Pointing in the Infant 92 (ii) Some Stages of the Development of Pointing at Non-Present Objects in the Infant 93 e. Some Stages of the Developing Memory 93 (i) Three Stage Version: 93 (ii) A More Refined Version: Memory of Objects -> Existence of Objects 94 f. Development of Learning 95 g.Some Stages of Language Development 96 (i) Language Copying 96 ii) Language Creation 96 h. Development of 'Exodus ', Goal Directed Dislocation 96 i. Dislocational Adaption: Evolution of 'Liber-imperialsm' 97 j. A Possible Evolution of Verbal Interaction 98 k. Standard Proceeding of Process and Action Sequences 98 3.9.3. Logical and Bio-Logical Blastematics 99 4. PHILOSOPHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN BIOLIN-GUISTICS 104 4.1. Two Philosophical Issues 104 4.1.1 Continuity vs. Discontinuity 104 4.1.2 Body and Mind 107 4.1.2.1. Some Preliminary Clarifications 107 4.1.2.2 Some Puzzles of Body and Mind 109 (i) Why do I believe in an s-mind (personal mind)? 109 (ii) S-mind is more than . . . 109 (iii) Are other s-minds empirically detectable? 110 (iv) What does follow from a physical conception of s-mind? 110 (v) The causality problem o f physical s-mind. (Causality Contradiction of Body and Soul). 110 (vi) Analternativephysical conception of s-minds 111 (vii) Blastematics and s-minds 111 (viii) The true philosopher's objection 112 4.2. Two Approaches to Knowledge: Philosophy and Wissenschaft 112 4.3. A Prions, Logics and Induction 116 4.3.1 A Prioris 116 4.3.2 Logics 118 4.3.3 Induction 119 4.4. Blastematics and Philosophy, a Summary 120 4.5. The Evolutionary Basis of Blastematics 121 4.5.1 Historical Considerations 121 4.5.2 Substantial Evolution Theory 123 4.5.3 Heuristic Use of the Verb thesaurus and an Argument against Circularity of a Blastematically Based Theory of Evolution 126 4.5.4 Substantial vs. Punctual Evolution Theory 127 4.5.5 Elucidation of the Heuristic Force of the Verbthesaurus Structure 130 4.6. Logic and Induction,Again 131 NOTES 134 REFERENCES 148 INDEX OF SUBJECTS 160 By Thomas T. Ballmer. Intended As A Second Volume To Waltraud Brennenstuhl's Control And Ability : Towards A Biocybernetics Of Language--p. Vii. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [139]-149.