《庄子》哲学中的名与言

The examination of names and words constitutes an important aspect of the philosophy of Zhuangzi. With the debate over the relationship between name and reality as its background, this examination not only involves the connection between form and meaning, but also targets at the connection between concepts and objects. The debate over the relationship between name and reality correlates with the discussion of the connection between words and meanings or ideas. For Zhuangzi, the function of names and words is first and foremost embodied as the classification and distinction of being, while the Dao, as the universal principle of being, is characterized by equality and throughness. This leads to an inherent disparity and tension between names, words and the Dao. Zhuangzi℉s thinking and argument concern the connections between name and reality, words and ideas, and the Dao and words. This displays multiple theoretical perspectives and the complexity of its thought. Translated by Xiao Mo from Zhongguo Shehui Kexue 中国社会科学(Social Sciences in China), 2006, (4): 38–49     

Does brand spelling influence memory? The case of auditorily presented brand names

We present a framework based on psycholinguistic theory to explain how individuals spell auditorily-presented information. We use the framework to predict and test how spelling-related characteristics of brand names and factors related to the context in which brand names are presented (e.g., spelling primes) will make the brands more or less memorable. Further, we reveal the process through which spelling-related linguistic variables influence brand recall: the dual-code (both written and auditory) that results from spelling a brand correctly leads to greater ability to later recall the brand. Our framework identifies two routes that interact when individuals have to transcribe a brand: the lexical (top-down) route and the sublexical (bottom-up) route.     

牟宗三先生名字义蕴辨正

本文不同意蔡仁厚把\"三\"释为三才、三光、三教等,认为\"三\"有明确性,且传达着尚中和的儒家意识;反对将\"离中\"解成\"中宜离以显其用\",认为\"离中\"即附丽中道.进而提出\"三\"为<离>卦之数,\"离中\"则源于<离>六二爻,牟宗三的名字寄予着对德业双修的期望--如丽(离)中天的事业,中正美好的德行.     

A pragmatic defense of Millianism

A new kind of defense of the Millian theory of names is given, which explains intuitive counter-examples as depending on pragmatic effects of the relevant sentences, by direct application of Grice’s and Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory and uncontroversial assumptions. I begin by arguing that synonyms are always intersubstitutable, despite Mates’ considerations, and then apply the method to names. Then, a fairly large sample of cases concerning names are dealt with in related ways. It is argued that the method, as applied to the various cases, satisfies the criterion of success: that for every sentence in context, it is a counter-example to Millianism to the extent that it has pragmatic effects (matching speakers’ intuitions).     

The missing link between faces and names: Evidence from Alzheimer's disease patients

Retrieval of proper names is a cause of concern and complaint among elderly adults and it is an early symptom of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). While it is well established that AD patients have deficits of proper name retrieval, the nature of such impairment is not yet fully understood. Specifically, it is unknown whether this deficit is due to a degradation of the links between faces and proper names, or due to deficits in intentionally accessing and retrieving proper names from faces. Here, we aim to investigate the integrity of the links between famous faces and proper names in AD while minimizing the impact of the explicit retrieval. We compare the performances of AD patients and elderly controls in a face-name priming task. We assess the integrity of the link between faces and names at two different levels: identity level - the name and face belong to the same person; and semantic level - the name and face belong to the same category (e.g., politicians). Our results reveal that AD patients compared with controls show intact semantic priming but reduced priming for person identity. This suggests that the deficits in intentionally retrieving proper names in AD are the result of a partial disruption of the network at the identity level, i.e., the links between known faces and proper names.