Intersubjectivity as Co-phenomenology: From the Holism of Meaning to the Being-in-the-world-with-others

I outline in this paper a pragmatical approach to meaning. Meaning is defined as a phenomenologically experienced construal. As such, it is a dynamic object whose first evidence comes from the first person rather than the third one. At the same time, the approach assumes that meaning is not an individual creation, but rather an intersubjective one. Origins of meaning are also to be founded not ‘in the head’ of a cognitive system or subject, but in the intersubjective space contingently formed between a subject (S), an other (O) and a common object (R), which they talk about. Approaching this minimal communicative situation therefore requires realizing that the phenomenological dimension is always implied in any intersubjective encounter. The observed synchronized co-feeling among subjects, upon which language comprehension takes place, I call ‘co-phenomenology’. When analyzed in this way, intersubjectivity shows at the same time its social, phenomenological and biological dimensions.

Foundationalism,Coherentism and Rule-Following Scepticism

Semantic holists view what one's terms mean as function of all of one's beliefs and applications. Holists will thus be coherentists about how one's usage is justified: showing that one's usage of a term is justified involves showing how it coheres with the rest of one's beliefs and applications. Semantic reductionists, on the other hand, will understand such justification in a classically foundationalist fashion. Now Saul Kripke has, on Wittgenstein's behalf, famously argued for a type of scepticism about meaning and the possibility of demonstrating the correctness of one's usage. However, Kripke's argument has bite only if one understands justification in classically foundationalist terms. Consequently, Kripke's arguments, if good, lead not to a type of scepticism about meaning, but rather to the conclusion that one should be a coherentist about the justification of our usage, and thus a holist about semantic facts.     

The fruits of irony: gaining insight into how we make meaning of the world

Many philosophers of education emphasise the impossibility to really ‘solve’ philosophical—and with that, educational—problems these days. Philosophers have been trying to give philosophy a new, constructive turn in the face of this insolvability. This paper focuses on irony-based approaches that try to exploit the very uncertainty of philosophical issues to further philosophical understanding. We will first briefly discuss a few highlights of historical uses of irony as a philosophical tool. Then we concentrate on two different interpretations of irony, formulated by Bransen and Rorty, that aim at gaining insight into how we make meaning of the world, while at the same time recognising that such an understanding would be impossible. After discussing some problematic aspects of these interpretations a third interpretation of irony is developed, based on a third view of the nature of meaning-making. Following these three interpretations, we will discuss their philosophical merits and the different kinds of insight they can produce for philosophy of education.     

In Defence of Non-conceptual Content

In recent times, Evans’ idea that mental states could have non-conceptual contents has been attacked. McDowell (Mind and World, 1994) and Brewer (Perception and reason, 1999) have both argued that that notion does not have any epistemological role because notions such as justification or evidential support, that might relate mental contents to each other, must be framed in conceptual terms. On his side, Brewer has argued that instead of non-conceptual content we should consider demonstrative concepts that have the same fine grainess of non-conceptual contents while having conceptual structure. In what follows I will argue that, first, that the notion of demonstrative concept is not viable and, second, that there is an epistemological role for non-conceptual content.

全球化态势下的跨文化交际研究:问题、视域与价值

全球化导致的全球跨文化交际大格局对传统的跨文化交际研究带来了一系列前所未有的新问题.只有适时调整跨文化交际研究方法,拓宽跨文化交际研究的领域,才能构建与时代同步的跨文化交际学.     

Communication and Cognition: The Social Beyond Language,Interaction and Culture

Cognition theories describe the social with terms like language, interaction or culture, whose theoretical status has also been discussed in modern sociology. These concepts are not well-positioned to understand the emergence and autonomy of social orders. Sociological theory of self-referential systems can be useful to reconstruct the bottom-up process which contributes to the emergence of the social as communication as well as to describe the way in which society exerts downward causation upon cognitive phenomena. The core of this theory is the systemic category of meaning as a shared horizon for psychic and social systems.     

Holism,Communication, and the Emergence of Public Meaning: Lessons from an Economic Analogy

Holistic accounts of meaning normally incorporate a subjective dimension that invites the criticism that they make communication impossible, for speakers are bound to differ in ways the accounts take to be relevant to meaning, and holism generalises any difference over some words to a difference about all, and this seems incompatible with the idea that successful communication requires mutual understanding. I defend holism about meaning from this criticism. I argue that the same combination of properties (subjective origins of value, holism among values, and ultimate publicity of value) is exhibited by monetary value and take the emergence of equilibrium prices as a model for the emergence of public meanings.

形式语用学视角中的生活世界理论

哈贝马斯吸收和整合了当代各种语言哲学的成就,形成了自己的语言哲学——形式语用学。这一理论通过对言语行为的意义与它的有效性要求之间内在关联性的分析,指出了言语行为的意义只有在交往行为中才能呈现出来。在解释言语行为的最终来源问题上,哈贝马斯引入胡塞尔的“生活世界”理论,并对它进行了形式语用学的改造。形式语用学的生活世界理论消解了胡塞尔生活世界理论中的先验性,同时又拓宽了韦伯的行为合理化理论视域。     

I Said,You Said: A Communication Exercise for Couples

The “I Said, You Said” technique leads the couple through a series of communication exercises that emphasizes the power of verbal and non-verbal cues. Initially, non-verbal cues that a couple uses to interpret each other’s spoken words are decreased to reduce the outside influences of attributed meaning. This allows the couple to focus on the clarity of the spoken message. Additional steps in this technique include restructuring speaker and listener roles, education about communication patterns, and learning how to communicate with more clarity and effectiveness, even when topics are emotionally laden. A brief vignette using the intervention follows this discussion.     

Communication and crying in newborns

Few studies have analysed newborns’ crying behaviour in relation to the communicative context. In the present study, duration, latency and dysphony of newborns’ cry were analysed in three different communicative conditions: absent, continuous and discontinuous tactile communication. Thirty newborns were randomly assigned to three tactile communicative procedures. Subsequently they were presented with two visual stimuli, face (social-stimulus) and square (non-social-stimulus). The study showed that newborns cried only during visual stimuli presentation both in absent and continuous communication conditions. Newborns with absent communication cried more, with shorter latency and more dysphony than newborns with continuous communication. No significant differences were found in duration, latency and dysphony of newborns’ cry between the two stimuli. Newborns in the discontinuous communicative condition did not cry either during tactile communication or during visual stimuli presentation. Different communicative contexts affected the newborns’ crying behaviour during stimuli presentation. Different interpretations are discussed here in order to explain the results.     

Culture of Science: Strange History of the Methodological Thinking in Psychology

In pre-World-War-II psychology, two directions in methodological thought—the German–Austrian and North American ways—could be differentiated. After the war, the German–Austrian methodological orientation has been largely abandoned. Compared to the pre-WWII German–Austrian psychology, modern mainstream psychology is more concerned with accumulation of facts than with general theory. Furthermore, the focus on qualitative data—in addition to quantitative data—is rarely visible. Only external–physical or statistical-rather than psychological controls are taken into account in empirical studies. Fragments—rather than wholes—and relationships are studied, and single cases that contradict group data are not analyzed. Instead of complex psychological types simple trait differences are studied, and prediction is not followed by thorough analysis of the whole situation. Last (but not least), data are not systematically related to complex theory. These limits have hindered the growth of knowledge in the behavioral sciences. A new return to an updated version of the German–Austrian methodological trajectory is suggested.

Listening to the Sound of Silence: Gender Roles and Communication about Sex in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican women are at high risk for the heterosexual transmission of HIV. I examined social and interpersonal aspects of communication about sex in regard to safer sex practices within a specific cultural context. Participants in this study were 42 heterosexual Puerto Rican adults living in Puerto Rico, who ranged in age from 18 to 56 years. Participants were interviewed regarding their sexual communication, sexual practices, and their perceptions regarding the roles of culture and gender in the practice of safer sex. Inductive qualitative analysis showed that three factors limit meaningful communication about sex in Puerto Rico: (1) machismo, (2) the changing role of virginity, and (3) the silencing of both men and women. Implications for theory-based inventions informed by an interpersonal communication perspective are discussed.This research was supported by the Northeastern University Provost’s Research and Development Fund.     

Communication attitudes in children who stutter: A meta-analytic review

BackgroundThis article presents a meta-analytic review of differences in communication attitudes between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS).MethodTo be included in this review, the studies had to include a group of CWS and CWNS between the ages of 3–18 years and a measurement of communication attitudes. The journal articles were identified by using the key words stutter*, speech disfluenc*, fluency disorder*, and stammer* cross-referenced to awareness*, reaction*, attitude*, KiddyCAT, CAT, A-19 Scale, PASS and OASES.ResultsA total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. The results showed that CWS exhibit more negative communication attitudes than CWNS from the preschool years. The differences between the groups increased with age, but were not influenced by gender.ConclusionThe results indicate that negative communication attitudes can be an effect of stuttering. Key issues requiring further investigation are whether communication attitudes differ as a function of age at stuttering onset and whether communication attitudes influence the development of stuttering.Educational Objectives: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (a) summarise empirical findings with regard to the relationship between communication attitudes and childhood stuttering; (b) describe the different instruments used to measure communication attitudes; (c) discuss the relationship between communication attitudes, age and gender.     

Factors Associated with Relationship Satisfaction: Importance of Communication Skills

The present study aimed to investigate the association between communication skills and relationship satisfaction, after having controlled for some other important associates of relationship satisfaction, such as attachment styles and various problem-solving skills including sense of control, confidence, and attitudes of approach-avoidance. One-hundred-forty-two university students who were either currently involved in a romantic relationship, or who had a romantic relationship in the past participated in this study. As a result of hierarchical regression analysis consistent with the expectations, having secure attachment style and high self-confidence on possessed problem-solving abilities were found to be associated with the relationship satisfaction. Moreover, after controlling for the variance accounted for by these variables communication skills were still found to be associated with the relationship satisfaction. Findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.     

The Historical Effect of Habermas in the Chinese Context: A Case Study of the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

The main purpose of this essay is not to give a full-scale and systematic exploration of the historical process concerning the acceptance of Habermas’ works in the Chinese-spoken world but to examine the historical effect of Habermas in the Chinese-spoken context and try to find a proper way to establish a good relationship between Habermas and the Chinese-spoken world by discussing the introduction, study, and application of Habermas’ most famous work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, by Chinese scholars in recent years. Translated from Xiandai zhexue, 2005:1     

Networks of meaning and the bicultural mind: A structural equation modeling approach

The paper examines cultural frame-switching among bicultural participants at the level of associated meanings. Bicultural participants of Greek descent who live in the Netherlands were randomly primed with either Greek or Dutch cultural symbols and language. A monocultural Dutch group in the Netherlands and a monocultural Greek group in Greece, were involved as control groups. Structural equation modeling indicated that the Greek participants in Greece and the bicultural participants primed with Greek culture had a similar pattern of associations. This pattern differed from that of the Dutch participants and the participants primed with Dutch culture. Thus, the two different monocultural association patterns were replicated among bicultural individuals. The findings show that meanings are affected by cultural frame-switching, and provide further support for the dynamic constructivist approach.     

人际交往的不确定性减少理论(URT)述评

"不确定性减少理论"(URT)的产生受到信息论、认知失调理论等理论的直接影响.URT认为,人际关系中常常充满了不确定性,个体将通过交往来减少这种不确定性;减少不确定性是人际交往的核心动力.以此为基础,提出了7项公设和21条定理.自诞生以来,URT得到了一定的支持,也受到了某些挑战.URT对人际交往研究作出了重要贡献,它使"不确定性"成为交际研究的主要范畴,同时它也存在某种局限性.     

浅析信息接受者认知调节在组织沟通中的作用

组织沟通是实现组织目标的基础,组织沟通效果受沟通要素、组织结构、个人因素以及组织文化和社会环境等众多因素的影响,而信息接受者的认知调节作用在沟通过程中起重要作用,决定着沟通有效的程度。本文旨在为今后研究沟通效果的改善策略提供依据。     

The Logical Structure of Linguistic Commitment III Brandomian Scorekeeping and Incompatibility

Curiously, though he provides in Making It Explicit (MIE) elaborate accounts of various representational idioms, of anaphora and deixis, and of quantification, Robert Brandom nowhere attempts to lay out how his understanding of content and his view of the role of logical idioms combine in even the simplest cases of what he calls paradigmatic logical vocabulary. That is, Brandom has a philosophical account of content as updating potential – as inferential potential understood in the sense of commitment or entitlement preservation – and says that the point of logical vocabulary is to make available the expressive resources to make explicit such semantic structures as arise from discursive scorekeeping practice. Thus, one would expect an account of the updating or inferential potential of sentences involving logical vocabulary, an account which is such as to assign to those sentences the inferential significance necessary for this expressive job. In short, one would expect a semantics of logical vocabulary – &, , – in terms of the difference an assertion of a sentence involving it makes to the atomic score of a linguistic agent, and a completeness proof for the logic generated by this semantics. Despite this, no such semantics is given in MIE. It is in the current paper.