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November 30, 2005

Bleg

I have a question for you: can anyone recommend a good, short history of linguistics, and in particular of the 20th century Chomsky-and-beyond era in linguistics? 5-10 pages (even opinionated pages) on somebody's website would be perfect, but a reference to an authoritative book or article would be useful too.

Thanks!

Posted by logican at 03:51 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

November 26, 2005

The 2006-7 Masterclass in Mathematical Logic

Details below the fold.

From the FOM mailing list:

Dear Colleagues,

please bring the following to the attention of your
students.

2006-2007 MASTER CLASS IN MATHEMATICAL LOGIC

In the academic year 2006-2007 a year-long program
of courses in Mathematical Logic is organized by
MRI (a cooperation of Dutch Universities).

The program is intended for advanced undergraduate and
beginning graduate students, and aims to provide them
with a solid preparation for a possible Ph.D. studentship
in the area.
There are possibilities for fellowships for students. Students
interested in fellowships should apply before January 15, 2006.

Details can be found at
http://www.math.uu.nl/people/jvoosten/mclogic

In particular, a brochure and a poster (in pdf format)
can be downloaded there; one also finds a list of the
courses that will be given.

Jaap van Oosten


Posted by logican at 09:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 25, 2005

Christmas with Ludwig

Distinguished philosopher of psychology, Chris Mole, (who also happens to be one of my best friends from grad school) read my old post about the singability of the last proposition of the Tractatus, and sent me this email containing an entire song. I've been meaning to post it for a while, so here it is:

I was speaking to my brother the other day about blogs and this caused me to look at yours, and thereby to learn about the singability of the seventh proposition of the Tractatus. I mentioned this to him, and he spontaneously composed the following, which I thought might amuse you:

To the tune of Good King Wenceleslas:
 
Ludwig Wittgenstein looked out
Over rainy Oxford.
Said, ‘Now there can be no doubt,
Russell’s thought is no good.
 
World is all that is the case,
That shall be my mission;
For philosophy that’s based
On seven propositions.
 
Tractatus is just the thing
To get people talking.
Rigorous logic-chopping:
Oh, it will be corking!
 
Wait till Frege gets a peak:
Debate may well turn violent.
But whereof he cannot speak,
He had best stay silent.'

The author is Chris' brother, Tom Mole, who teaches English at McGill. Maybe one day I'll be able to persuade Chris to let me post his (hilarious) poem about Scott Soames, or even better, an mp3 of him performing it. And then there's Josh Greene's Benacerraf song...and of course, Adam Morton's haiku.
 

Posted by logican at 12:10 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

November 22, 2005

Bookfinder News

I've just realised that Nathan Salmon's Reference and Essence is back in print, and at a reasonable price (around US$20, depending on where you shop). It used to be one of those books that you'd count as a find in second-hand bookshops, and indeed even now you can still buy old copies on the web for an insane US$84.91. It seems it was "rereleased" in June as a member of Prometheus Books' "Studies in Analytic Philosophy" series.

Posted by logican at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 02, 2005

Via Arts and Letters Daily

"A job hunter, a philosophy major, went here, there and everywhere in his search for employment, but in vain. Having run out of options, he swallowed his pride and took up the offer of playing a bear in a costume at a zoo..."

China Daily on the practicality of philosophy.

Posted by logican at 05:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack