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t-online.de>AGAINST ESSENTIALISM: TOWARD LANGUAGE AWARENESS Karol Janicki, University of Bergen The major point made in this book is that the philosophical position called 'essentialism' engenders a very unrewarding set of beliefs. These beliefs are reflected in how people view language and in all the possible walks of life which involve the use of language. A critical stance toward philosophical essentialism is the idea which permeates and thus unites all the eight dialogues in the book. After a short introductory dialogue (1) concerning the use of incomprehensible language, the book treats the following issues: (2) the importance of philosophical knowledge both for the professional linguist and for the average language user; (3) the importance that language users attribute to words; (4) the relationship between cognitive linguistics and non-essentialism (including a discussion of imprecision, creativity, fuzziness, metaphor); (5) the omni-presence of misunderstanding; (6) conflict (including a discussion of intolerance, dogmatism, infallability, conceit, authoritarian argumentation); (7) the political correctness debate; and (8) ways in which essentialism can be counteracted (including encouragement of a tolerant attitude to language use and of new coinages). This book is intended primarily for undergraduate and graduate students of linguistics; but, given the informal style and the main claims of the book, which go significantly beyond linguistics, it may appeal to a much broader audience. ISBN 3895866210. LINCOM Studies in Pragmatics 07. Ca. 260 pp. USD 55 / DM 94 / \163 36. July 1999. Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available with special discounts offered to individual subscribers. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +4989 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
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