Natural Signs and Knowledge of God


Book Description

Is there such a thing as natural knowledge of God? C. Stephen Evans presents the case for understanding theistic arguments as expressions of natural signs in order to gain a new perspective both on their strengths and weaknesses. Three classical, much-discussed theistic arguments - cosmological, teleological, and moral - are examined for the natural signs they embody. At the heart of this book lie several relatively simple ideas. One is that if there is a God of the kind accepted by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, then it is likely that a 'natural' knowledge of God is possible. Another is that this knowledge will have two characteristics: it will be both widely available to humans and yet easy to resist. If these principles are right, a new perspective on many of the classical arguments for God's existence becomes possible. We understand why these arguments have for many people a continued appeal but also why they do not constitute conclusive 'proofs' that settle the debate once and for all. Touching on the interplay between these ideas and contemporary scientific theories about the origins of religious belief, particularly the role of natural selection in predisposing humans to form beliefs in God or gods, Evans concludes that these scientific accounts of religious belief are fully consistent, even supportive, of the truth of religious convictions.




Knowledge Through Signs


Book Description

Le centre Semiotic and Cognitive Studies (semiotique et etudes cognitives) de l'universite de San Marino (dirige par Umberto Eco et Patrizia Violi) veut promouvoir la recherche et les echanges interdisciplinaires dans le domaine des sciences cognitives, de la semiotique, de la psychologie, de la psycholinguistique, de la philosophie de la pensee, de l'intelligence artificielle, dans le but de comparer les traditions philosophique, semiotique et linguistique europeennes aux derniers resultats des sciences cognitives americaines. Numero 2 de la serie Semiotic and Cognitive Studies: G. Manetti, Preface, Introduction: The Concept of the Sign from Ancient to Modern Semiotics, W. Leszl, I messagi degli dei e i segni della natura, D. Sedley, Aristotle's De interpretatione and ancient semantics, A.A. Long, Stoic Psychology and the Elucidation of Language, G. Verbeke, Meaning and Role of the Expressible in Stoic Logic, E. Asmis, Epicurean Semiotics, D. Glidden, Sextus and the Erotetic Fallacy, M. Bettetini, Agostino d'Ippona: i segni, il linguaggio, M. Bettini, A proposito di Argumentum, G. Pucci, Terminus. Per una semiotica dei confini nel mondo romano, D. Maggi, Il segno creatore. Aspetti dell'integrazione del segno nella mitologia vedica, U. Eco, Jerusalem and the Temple as Signs in Medieval Culture.




Changing Signs of Truth


Book Description

Crystal Downing brings the postmodern theory of semiotics within reach for today's evangelists. Following the idea of the sign through Scripture, church history and the academy, Downing shows you how signs work and how sensitivity to their dynamics can make or break an attempt to communicate truth.




Augustine's Theory of Signs, Signification, and Lying


Book Description

The aim of this study is to present, as far as possible, a general description of the theory of the sign and signification in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), with a view to its evaluation and implications for the study of semiotics. Accurate studies for subject, discipline, and significance have not yet given an organic and systematic vision of Augustine’s theory of the sign. The underlying aspiration is that such an endeavour will prove to be beneficial to the scholars of Augustine’s thought as well as to those with a keen interest in the history of semiotics. The study uses Augustine’s own accounts to investigate and interpret the philosophical problem of the sign. The focus lies on the first decade of Augustine’s literary production. The De dialectica, is taken as the terminus ad quo of the study, and the De doctrina christiana is the terminus ad quem. The selected texts show an explicit engagement with poignant discussion on the nature and structure of the sign, the variety of signs and their uses. Although Augustine’s intention never was to establish a theory of meaning as an independent field of study, he largely employed a theory of signs. Thus, Augustine’s approach to signs is intrinsically meaningful.




Signs and Symbols in Education


Book Description

In this monograph on Educational Semiotics, Francois Victor Tochon has produced a work that is truly groundbreaking on a number of fronts. First of all, in his concise but brilliant introductory comments, Tochon clearly debunks the notion that semiotics might provide yet another methodological tool in the toolkit of educational researchers. Drawing skillfully on the work of Peirce, Deely, Sebeok, Merrell, and others, Tochon shows us just how fundamentally different semiotic research can be when compared to the modes and techniques that have dominated educational research for many decades. He points out how semiotic methods can provide the capability for both students and researchers to look at this basic and fundamental human process in inescapably transformational ways, by acknowledging and accepting that the path to knowledge is, in his words "through the fixation of belief." In four brilliantly conceived studies, he shows us how semiotic concepts in general, and semiotic mapping in particular, can allow both student teachers and researchers alike insights in these students' development of insights and concepts into the very heart of the teaching and learning process. By tackling both theoretical and practical research considerations, Tochon has provided the rest of us the beginnings of a blueprint that, if adopted, can push educational research out of its entrenchment in the Age of Ideas into the new and exciting frontiers of the Age of Signs. This is a brilliant book and should be read not only by semioticians and educators, but also by anyone who wants to understand how we learn above and beyond the instinctual biological system with which we are endowed. Marcel Danesi, Professor of Linguistic Anthropology, University of Toronto What does semiotics, often seen as an abstract theorization of how symbols function, have to say to educators trying to do the difficult job of supporting student learning? Francois Victor Tochon offers us a sampling of practical teaching and research tools based in semiotic principles that help move education away from fixed methods, best practices, and rigid content standards toward understanding learning as coming at meaning sideways and creatively, always re-defining, re-imagining, and improvising for our own purposes here and now. Educators and education researchers sorely need to learn this lesson. Jay Lemke, Department of Communication, University of California-San Diego Educational Semiotics is a highly original work of scholarship. In four ingeniously designed studies, Francois Tochon demonstrates how semiotic analysis can be used to deconstruct the professional learning experiences of preservice teachers. These studies offer startling insights into the creative application of semiotic methods, the understanding of long standing issues in teacher education, and the nature of learning in situated contexts. Thus, this book is helpful to semioticians, teacher educators, and all those interested in how professionals learn through experience. The implications of his work are profound and their potential for further investigation is enormous. Tochon is pointing the way to a new field of endeavor that he has termed Educational Semiotics. John Henning, former President of Semiotics in Education at the American Educational Research Association, Ohio University Tochon's raises contemporary questions about the search for meaning and the processes through which we make meaning. His work demonstrates that meaning classifications are not products of a static system, but rather dynamic events which reshape their organizing as a continuous process of meaning creation. The four studies in this book are rich, flexible, and reflect critical knowledge transformation. Elvira Kati, Semiotic Society of America, Professor of Education, Ramapo College of New Jersey"




Peirce's Theory of Signs


Book Description

In this book, T. L. Short corrects widespread misconceptions of Peirce's theory of signs and demonstrates its relevance to contemporary analytic philosophy of language, mind and science. Peirce's theory of mind, naturalistic but nonreductive, bears on debates of Fodor and Millikan, among others. His theory of inquiry avoids foundationalism and subjectivism, while his account of reference anticipated views of Kripke and Putnam. Peirce's realism falls between 'internal' and 'metaphysical' realism and is more satisfactory than either. His pragmatism is not verificationism; rather, it identifies meaning with potential growth of knowledge. Short distinguishes Peirce's mature theory of signs from his better-known but paradoxical early theory. He develops the mature theory systematically on the basis of Peirce's phenomenological categories and concept of final causation. The latter is distinguished from recent and similar views, such as Brandon's, and is shown to be grounded in forms of explanation adopted in modern science.




Relational and Multimodal Higher Education


Book Description

This book proposes a relational turn in higher education by conceptualizing knowledge and pedagogy as relational and multimodal, analyzed through three dimensions of relationality: social, technological, and environmental. The volume draws on interdisciplinary approaches that make a case for integrating these interconnected and distinct dimensions in higher education theory and practice. Its novelty lies in combining such a variety of perspectives with Peircean semiotics to explore what it means to learn and live relationally. It emphasizes the importance of critical reflection, rooted in an environmental understanding of knowledge and digital media. This approach integrates materiality, place, and space in higher education, positioning caring, critically reflective and imaginative interactions and interpretations as central for knowledge growth. The volume features practical case studies of relational pedagogy through dialogues with diverse higher education practitioners, which embrace expression and creation through more than one dominant modality of communication and being. The book envisions students and educators as relational agents, with relational awareness and responsibility, aware of their multimodal identities. It highlights how a relational multimodal paradigm can serve as a way forward for universities to address global challenges concerning social, (post)digital, and environmental futures. This innovative book will be of interest to scholars, students, teachers, and policymakers in higher education, semiotics and multimodality, as well as postdigital, sociomaterial and futures studies.




Signs of Intelligence


Book Description

A collection of fourteen essays which provide an overview of the argument for intelligent design, with diagrams, explanations, and relevant quotations.




Ancient and Medieval Greek Etymology


Book Description

This volume on Greek synchronic etymology offers a set of papers evidencing the cultural significance of etymological commitment in ancient and medieval literature. The four sections illustrate the variety of approaches of the same object, which for Greek writers was much more than a technical way of studying language. Contributions focus on the functions of etymology as they were intended by the authors according to their own aims. (1) “Philosophical issues” addresses the theory of etymology and its explanatory power, especially in Plato and in Neoplatonism. (2) “Linguistic issues” discusses various etymologizing techniques and the status of etymology, which was criticized and openly rejected by some authors. (3) “Poetical practices of etymology” investigates the ubiquitous presence of etymological reflections in learned poetry, whatever the genre, didactic, aetiological or epic. (4) “Etymology and word-plays” addresses the vexed question of the limit between a mere pun and a real etymological explanation, which is more than once difficult to establish. The wide range of genres and authors and the interplay between theoretical reflection and applied practice shows clearly the importance of etymology in Greek thought.




Signs & Seasons


Book Description

Lavishly illustrated and extensively quoting ancient sources, Signs & Seasons teaches the traditional, Biblical basis for timekeeping and navigation. The reader will discover the phases of the Moon and the passage of the seasons. You will learn to find the traditional constellations and to identify the visible Planets. You will see how our calendar is based on the Sun and Moon, and how the times of Passover and Easter are derived from their cycles. Signs & Seasons also includes 40 pages of Field Activities that help the reader acquire practical experience with observing the sky. Read Signs & Seasons and rediscover your forgotten astronomical heritage!




Recent Books