tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86875929845296346102024-03-13T08:37:39.195+01:00Historical intercontextuality, meta-communication and comparative linguistic analysisThe intention of this blog is to collect corpus texts for research topics interrelating to, as the title of this blog states, historical intercontextuality, metacommunication and comparative linguistic analysis in various religious contexts.
This blog will be a modest attempt to, through the posted topics, examine the boundaries of the "religious genetics" of the human spiritual condition in various forms of narrative.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-54041045744640494612023-08-08T12:30:00.003+02:002023-08-08T12:30:45.088+02:00Quantum Natural Language Processing: Challenges and Opportunities
drs. Prof. M.G. Maeriën, DCam, DCounsPsych, LLD, Dlitt, Mart, BSI, MIS, MscI
For
Institute for High Performance Computing and Networking (ICAR), National Research Council (CNR), 80131 Naples, Italy, in collaboration with University of Antwerp
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Abstract
The meeting between Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Quantum Computing has been very successful in recent years, leading to the development of several approaches of the so-called Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP). This is a hybrid field in which the potential of quantum mechanics is exploited and applied to critical aspects of language processing, involving different NLP tasks. Approaches developed so far span from those that demonstrate the quantum advantage only at the theoretical level to the ones implementing algorithms on quantum hardware. This paper aims to list the approaches developed so far, categorizing them by type, i.e., theoretical work and those implemented on classical or quantum hardware; by task, i.e., general purpose such as syntax-semantic representation or specific NLP tasks, like sentiment analysis or question answering; and by the resource used in the evaluation phase, i.e., whether a benchmark dataset or a custom one has been used. The advantages offered by QNLP are discussed, both in terms of performance and methodology, and some considerations about the possible usage QNLP approaches in the place of state-of-the-art deep learning-based ones are given.
1. Introduction
In recent years, the explosion of neural language models based on deep learning architecture has led to significant improvement in all NLP tasks [1,2,3,4], ranging from machine translation [5], text classification [6], coreference resolution [7,8] or multi-language syntactic analysis [9,10,11]. In particular, Transformers-based models such as BERT have proved to outperform previous generation state-of-the-art architecture such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks (RNN).
However, the improvement in performance is matched by an increasing complexity of models that have led to a paradox. Models require a huge amount of data to be efficiently trained, with an enormous cost in time, resources and computation.
This is the major drawback of current approaches based on Transformers, for instance the number of parameters for this kind of neural networks reaches the order of hundreds of billions (data referred to OpenAI GPT model) [12,13]. In addition, it requires big resources for the training phase (e.g., the whole Wikipedia corpus in several languages).
Beyond to these aspects, there are also open issues inherent to what really these models learn about language [14,15], how they encode this information [16] and how much of the information learned is really interpretable [17]. The literature has produced several studies focused on whether neural language models are able to encode a sort of linguistic information or whether they just replicate patterns observed in written texts.
An alternative way that is gaining attention in recent years is that which originates from quantum computing, in particular quantum-machine learning sub-field. The idea is to exploit powerful aspects borrowed from quantum mechanics to overcome computational limitations of current approaches [18]. The dominant paradigm of classical statistics could be extended using quantum mechanics by representing objects with matrices of complex numbers.
In quantum computing, bits are replaced by qubits, which are able to handle information in a non-binary state using a property of quantum system called superposition [19]. Quantum algorithms can perform calculations with smaller complexity compared to the classical approaches using an intrinsic property of qubits known as super-polynomial speedup [18,20,21].
Recent work has observed the development of quantum algorithms that could serve as foundations for machine learning applications. In some cases, quantum properties have been used to simply improve performance of machine learning approaches, while in others problems of machine learning have been reformulated using quantum theory [22,23]. Process classical data using machine learning algorithms using quantum systems has generated a big strand of research. Quantum machine learning has been used for different purposes: delving into the use of quantum phenomena for learning systems, exploring the ability of quantum computers to learn on quantum data and the possibility to reformulate and implement machine learning algorithms on quantum hardware.
As happened before in the case of the classic machine learning, this rapid growth of quantum machine learning algorithms, both from hardware and software side (in terms of devices and algorithms) has involved the natural language processing (NLP) field. This has given rise to the so-called QuantumNLP (QNLP) [24], defined as the implementation of natural language on quantum hardware. It matches the compositional language structure (grammar and semantics) with composition made possible by quantum systems in order to model natural language and perform simple NLP tasks exploiting algorithms derived from the quantum machine learning.
The core idea at the basis of QNLP is that the most effective manner for bringing language meaning and grammatical structure together was provided by the categorical quantum mechanics framework. Moreover, it promises to be more aware of the meanings of the language involved in the modeling. The advantage of using a visual representation language is the possibility to represent both the meaning of a word and its relationships to others within a sentence, and its structure too. This would represent a step forward from the classical dependency-based representation that relies on tree structure without explicit connections to meanings of the syntactic elements involved.
The theoretical framework common to de facto all QNLP approaches is the Categorical Distributional Compositional (DisCoCat) model for natural language [25]. DisCoCat allows encoding meanings of words and phrases as quantum states and processes subsequently implementable as quantum circuits in dedicated hardware or simulators. At the moment, the developed approaches can mainly be pursued through a hybrid methodology, combining classical operations with operations taken from quantum mechanics. This is because that—although the advantages of quantum-based approaches are proven at the theoretical level [25,26]—the availability of hardware is currently limited to machines only to small to intermediate scale (in particulare NISQ computers: Noisy intermediate-scale) [27]. Given the growing interest of the NLP community in the possibilities offered by QNLP, this paper aims at providing a comprehensive overview of quantum approaches to solve natural language processing tasks. After a brief introduction of concepts and properties drawn from quantum mechanics and NLP, the theoretical background underlying the proposed approaches is described.
Subsequently, different work are listed distinguishing between their type, i.e., full theoretical work that have not had a real implementation, work based on quantum mechanics but running on classical hardware, and work that can run on quantum hardware currently available and have been tested on real data.
Note that—although QNLP is promising and could solve many critical issues related to current well-established NLP mechanics—it is not yet possible to make a real comparison between classical and quantum approaches [28]. This is since many of the works have only theoretically demonstrated performance benefits, while those that have been implemented only manage to run on very small portions of data.
This paper is structured as follows: Section 2 introduces the theoretical background both from a quantum computing and linguistic point of view. First, in Section 2.1 basic quantum mechanics notions, algorithms, and hardware used within the QNLP are specified. Section 2.2 briefly describes the intersection between quantum computing and NLP. After that, in Section 3 the approaches of QNLP that have been proposed so far are enumerated, dividing them into theoretical (Section 4), classical hardware approaches (Section 5) and approaches running on real quantum hardware (Section 6). Section 7 and Section 8 are devoted to a review of the listed work and conclusions highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of QNLP approaches.
2. Theoretical Background
This section aims to provide preliminary concepts with respect to both the terminology, properties and algorithms derived from quantum mechanics that are discussed below and concerning the linguistic theory foundations that underlie the proposed language models.
2.1. Quantum Background
In this section fundamental quantum concepts that are used in this work are briefly outlined, covering both the fundamental concepts and the algorithms and hardware used within the QNLP.
2.1.1. Fundamental Notions
• Qubits is the basic unit of information in quantum computing. Similar to its classical counterpart, the bit, it can assume two distinct values of 0 or a 1. The difference is that whereas a bit must be either 0 or 1, a qubit can be 0, 1 or a superposition of both. Conventionally, possible states of a qubit are represented using the Dirac notation: |0〉|0〉 and |1〉|1〉.
• Superposition is a principle of quantum mechanics allowing separate elements to assume many configuration arrangements, such that the general state is a combination of all of these possibilities. For the purpose of this work, notice that each qubit could take a superposition of both |0〉|0〉 and |1〉|1〉, assuming a representation obtained from the linear combination of the two states: |𝜓〉=𝑎|0〉+𝑏|1〉|�〉=�|0〉+�|1〉, where |𝜓〉|�〉 is a state that lives in a 2-dimensional complex vector space (Hilbert space), a and b two arbitrary complex coefficients whose sum of squares is 1 and |0〉|0〉 and |1〉|1〉 are orthonormal basis vectors, related to the respective measures 0 and 1. In the context of NLP, the superposition gives the possibility to better manage some pervasive natural language phenomena, such as lexical ambiguity and polysemy [29,30]. For instance, the term bar can have different meanings. It can indicate a place where alcoholic drinks are served or a piece of metal. Using the Dirac notation, the word bar can be represented as a superposition state: |𝑏𝑎𝑟〉=𝑎|𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒〉+𝑏|𝑟𝑜𝑑〉|���〉=�|�����〉+�|���〉.
• Entanglement is a non-local property that distinguishes qubits from the classic bit. It allows multiple states simultaneously, differently from the classical bits that can have only one value at a time. For instance, considering two entangled qubits in the Bell state, Bell states are specific quantum states of two qubits representing the simplest and maximal examples of quantum entanglement 12√(||00〉+|11〉|)12(||00〉+|11〉|). These two qubits are separated and assigned to two different elements, a and b. The measurement of qubits assigned to a gives |0〉|0〉 or |1〉|1〉 as a result. Due to the entanglement property, b must now obtain exactly the same measurement as a. In particular, if a measures a |0〉|0〉, b must measure the same, as |00〉|00〉 is the only state where a qubit is a |0〉|0〉. With regard to NLP, the assumption is that words that the grammatical structure that connects with specific relations of multiple words, form and entangle between quantum states in which the words are encoded [31].
• Hilbert space is defined as a vector space equipped with an inner product, which allows defining a distance function so that it becomes a complete metric space. In quantum mechanics, the possible states of a system are represented by state vectors located in a complex separable Hilbert space [32].
• Quantum measurement is the act of observing a qubit in superposition and resulting in one of the possible states. The act of observing or measuring a qubit collapses the superposition state and the qubit takes on a classical binary state of either 1 or 0. Thus, when a qubit in a certain superposition state |𝜓〉=𝑎|0〉+𝑏|1〉|�〉=�|0〉+�|1〉 is measured with respect to the standard basis for quantum computation |0〉|0〉,|1〉|1〉, it is possible to get either the result 0 with probability 𝑎2�2, or the result 1 with probability 𝑏2�2. Once a qubit has been measured, it stays in that state forever. In other words, measurement alters the state of a qubit, collapsing it from its superposition of |0〉|0〉 and |1〉|1〉 to the specific state consistent with the result of the measurement, i.e., if |𝜓〉|�〉 is observed to be in state |0〉|0〉 through measurement, then the post-measurement state of the qubit will be |0〉|0〉, and any subsequent measurements (in the same basis) will yield 0 with probability 1.
• Quantum interference is a principles of quantum theory that affects the state of a qubit to influence its probability to collapse into a manner or another. It allows biasing the measurement of superposition toward a desired basis state or set of states.
2.1.2. Quantum Computation and Algorithms
• Noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices are defined as quantum computers for which general-purpose quantum error correction is not feasible and hardware errors are expected [33]. These devices currently can handle 1000 two-qubit operations with tolerable error rates, having a memory size of 50–100 qubits. NISQ devices are currently the only hardware in place to run quantum algorithms; however, they present several limits concerning the number of qubits available to algorithms and the maximum size of quantum circuits.
• Quantum Random Access Memory (QRAM) is the quantum counterpart of the classical random access memory (RAM). QRAM is able to use n qubits to address any quantum superposition of N memory cells, where the classical RAM can only use n bits to randomly access 𝑁=2𝑛�=2� distinct memory cells. QRAM presents some advantages in terms of performance, exponentially reducing the need for a memory call from N to 𝑂(𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁)�(����). The architecture has been presented by [34], but it still remains unrealized at the implementation level.
• Grover’s quantum search algorithm is structured to get the correct answer using a state with an equal superposition of orthogonal states, which represent the answers as input. The output is a state with only basic states that have any probability of being measured correspond to correct answers [35].
• Quantum volume is the metric that allow a comparison between different quantum computers, each of which can present a different architecture. Performances are evaluated quantifying the largest random circuit of same width and depth successfully implementable by a quantum computer.
2.2. NLP and Quantum: The Meeting Point
One of the assumptions underlying the union between natural language processing and quantum theory is the possibility of creating a direct relationship between linguistic features (i.e., syntactic structures and semantics meanings) and quantum states.
This is made possible using the DisCoCat framework through string diagrams [36] as a network-like language [37].
This approach is part of a long and flourishing tradition of computational linguistics focused on the search for the most efficient way to represent language structures and meanings in a machine-readable way. On the one hand, the distributional approach—which has been the most successful line of research in recent years—relies on statistics about the contexts in which words occur according to the distributional hypothesis [38]. By contrast, the symbolic approach [39] has been focused on individual meanings that compose the sentence. This approach is based on the theoretical linguistics’ concept of compositionality, arguing that the meaning of a sentence depends on the meanings of its parts and by the grammar according to which they are arranged together. Therefore, the analysis of the individual constituents determines the overall meaning, which is expressed using a formal logical language. This line of research has obtained less success in NLP applications so far.
Current state-of-the-art neural network models are based on the dominant distributional paradigm. Therefore, this approach is not without problems. First, there is a big bottleneck created by the need for ever larger data sets and parameters; moreover, the interpretation of these models is difficult [40].
The first attempt to overcome the limitations of current NLP models is to include features about the structure of the language (basically syntax) into canonical distributional language models. The resulting model—denoted as DisCoCat—incorporates categorical information and distributional information. Note that this is certainly not a new approach in the field of theoretical and computational linguistics, since its roots lie in the Universal Grammar [41] and foundational work of [42,43], while applied aspects come from categorical grammars proposed by [44] and pregroup grammar [45].
The Compositional Distributional Model
Given the premise that the constituents of a sentence are strongly interconnected, and the grammatical structures in which they are involved affect semantics [46], the pioneering work proposed by [25] has proposed a graphical framework to draw string diagrams (see Figure 1) exploiting concepts from Lambek’s pregroup grammar [47]. The uniqueness of the proposed representation is that sentence meanings can be totally independent of the grammatical structure.
Figure 1. Example of a simple sentence represented using a string diagram inspired by formalism proposed in [25].
The question they intended to answer is not only rooted in compositionality, i.e., whether the meaning of a whole sentence can be deduced by single meanings of its words. The aim is rather to make the first steps towards a grammar-informed NLP, deepening the ways in which words interact with each other and establishing their meanings. In other terms, the framework aims to combine in a whole diagrammatic representation structural aspects of language (grammar theory and syntax) and statistical approaches based on empirical evidences (machine/deep learning).
In the diagram, boxes represent meanings of words that are transmitted via wires. It deals with a representation similar to the canonical Dependency Parse Tree (DPT) well known in the linguistics literature, but it does not introduce a hierarchical tree structure. In the example shown in Figure 1, the noun in subject position “Max” and the one in object position “pizza” are both related with the verb “ate” and the combination of these words builds up the meaning of the overall sentence. In this way, distributional and compositional aspects are combined into DisCoCat. The meaning of sentences is computed using pregroup grammar via tensor product composition. In particular, it is possible to go through the classic DPT using the tensor product of vector spaces of the meanings of words and vectors of their grammatical roles. For instance, the example sentence in Figure 1 can be represented as follows:
(𝑀𝑎𝑥⊗𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑗⊗𝐚𝐭𝐞⊗(𝑝𝑖𝑧𝑧𝑎⊗𝑜𝑏𝑗→)(���→⊗subj→⊗ate→⊗(�����→⊗obj→)
(1)
This vector in the tensor product space can be considered as the meaning of the sentence “Max ate pizza”. Subsequently, this model has been reformulated in quantum terms, creating the pregroup only using Bell-effect and identities [24]. In this diagrammatic notation (see Figure 2), pentagons represent quantum states and wires represent the Bell-effect. The equivalence of wire structure with pregroup grammar has been demonstrated [31].
Figure 2. Diagrammatic notation showing how word meaning can be interpreted as quantum states and grammatical structure as quantum measurements.
Notice that the original DisCoCat model works perfectly without any reference to quantum theory, even if its true origin is the categorical quantum mechanics (CQM) formalism [48] and this connection is only made explicit in further work [31].
The novelty in introducing elements from quantum theory lies in the argument put forward in the work of [49] and then elaborated and enriched in [31]: QNLP can be considered “quantum-native” since quantum theory and natural language share an interaction structure and the use of vector spaces. This interaction structure determines the entire structure of processes, including the specification of the spaces where the states live. Vector spaces are used to describe states. This implies that natural language could better fit in a quantum hardware than a classical one.
Hence, the translation of linguistic structure into quantum circuits is particularly suitable to be implemented in a proper quantum hardware (NISQ) and consequently benefit from quantum advantage in terms of speedup.
3. Classification of Work
The release of a compositional derivational model such as DisCocat, has tremendously influenced in direct and indirect ways all approaches in the nascent field of QNLP. Since in its original version it can actually be considered as a tensor network language model [50], some approaches have taken advantage of its internal architecture while not using the whole model. Other works instead incorporate DiScoCat into their methodology, while still other ones propose alternative models.
The papers reviewed below are categorized according to this criterion. First, a brief mention of pre-quantum work is given, i.e., all work using the first version of the model or work exploiting tensor networks to perform different NLP tasks. Although such works may not appear to be in line with the purpose of this survey, it is important to include them since they lay the groundwork for all future developments. In addition, they cover a broader range of topics from which subsequent work complete with a full quantum implementation will branch.
After that, Theoretical Quantum work are described, i.e., those works that propose algorithms or methods based on quantum theory or are potentially implementable on quantum, hardware, but which are not tested on real data. They range from approaches focused on specific tasks to other ones that targeted generic aspects of NLP, such as how to represent sentences or how to combine different language models (e.g., syntactic/semantic or compositional/distributional).
Then, approaches that have been implemented and evaluated on real data are described. A distinction is made between approaches that have been run on classical hardware (namely quantum-inspired approaches) and those that have used actual quantum hardware.
Concerning quantum-inspired approaches, the quantum advantage has been demonstrated at the theoretical level but the algorithms have been tested on classic hardware.
These works are typically organized in this way: taking up the classical model, benefiting from the contribution of quantum mechanics at the performance level and demonstrating that it is possible to outperform the state-of-the-art using a quantum approach. Note that some of these works have been tested and compared with benchmark datasets well-known in the literature, while other ones use ad-hoc-created samples for the evaluation.
Finally, approaches that have been actually tested on the quantum computer are outlined. These works—although at the moment very few in number—have been proposed for some simple NLP tasks. These works are described following a distinction with respect to the application task. These work are intended as the applied counterpart of theoretical works in which the mathematical foundations are provided. All of them start from the assumption that a quantum-based model of language should be closer and more reliable than current language models with respect to a specific task. Experiments have been performed on small-to-medium scale datasets, due to the current limits of quantum hardware.
Table 1 shows a comparative summary of the listed approaches, specifying type and task.
Table 1. Comparison of existing approaches divided by type (theoretical, really implemented on classical hardware and running on quantum hardware) and by NLP task on which they focused.
Pre-QNLP Approaches
Even in its original pre-quantum formulation, the DisCoCat framework has had great success in the literature, as it was used for various linguistic phenomena. For instance, following an experiment proposed by [66], the work of [67] has tested DisCoCat on British National Corpus (BNC) [68] in order to demonstrate the possibility of a practical implementation of such a model opening the way to the production of large scale compositional models. More recently, other aspects connected to DisCoCat model have been investigated, including tasks such as negation and disambiguation. In particular, in [69] the possibility of a model for logical negation has been investigated. The work of [70] instead has proposed a method exploiting the distributional compositional categorical model of meaning to compare and translate sentences in English and Irish using via vector spaces.
Afterwards, the tensor-network based approach on which DisCoCat is based has given rise to numerous derivative approaches. Among these, it is important to mention the study proposed by [71]. It has used the Frobenius algebra [72] to develop a compositional vector-based semantics of subject, and object relative pronouns within a categorical framework have been supported. The general operations derived from the Frobenius algebra have been used to formalize the operations required to model the semantics of relative pronouns, ranging from relative clauses to modifiers. Again, the feasibility of the approach has been assessed through small-scale experiments on BNC corpus. Another work that has exploited tensor networks following DisCoCat idea has been proposed by [73]. It is a work focused on the disambiguation task. In particular, an algorithm able to improve number of tensor-based compositional distributional models of meaning introducing a step of disambiguation prior to composition has been developed. This approach is based on a methodology already known in the literature for automatic word sense disambiguation [74], which creates unambiguous versions of tensors before these are composed with vectors of nouns to construct vectors for sentences and phrases.
4. Theoretical Quantum Approaches
Since its release, DisCoCat model offers several advantages on a theoretical level; in particular, it has provided a syntax-aware algorithm able to compute the meaning of sentences and phrases using tensor product composition. Although it is originally inspired by some properties and protocols of quantum mechanics [75], its implementation was limited by the high computational cost it required.
Addressing this issue, the work of [26] proposes a way to implement distributional compositional models, such as DisCoCat using quantum computers. The starting assumption is that quantum computation innately fits for managing high dimensional tensor product spaces. Computational problems related to tensor-product-based compositional semantics are addressed by the scalability of quantum systems. In addition, the work proposes an efficient sentence similarity algorithm. These kinds of algorithms are good candidates to have a real implementation on a quantum hardware, since noisy results can be tolerated.
The proposed algorithm exploits the abstract connection between NLP and quantum information modeling density matrices using mixed states of quantum systems. Concerning performance, the quadratic speedup has been demonstrated in sentence similarity task.
However, this performance improvement has only been demonstrated on a theoretical level, since it is based on the assumption that it is possible to use QRAM, which is currently unavailable [21].
An alternative approach born to compensate for this lack has been proposed by [49]. This work theorizes a full-stack pipeline for NLP on a NISQ device exploiting the classical ansätz parameters instead of the never realized QRAM of the original algorithm. Starting from the tensor structure already proposed in the non-NISQ friendly algorithm [26], every step of the theorized NLP pipeline is described in detail, specifying the tools and methods that would be possible to apply to be compliant with a quantum hardware.
In particular, ansätze are used as lexical categories to map DisCoCat models to variational quantum circuits. These categories are connected following the grammar in order to build circuits for arbitrary syntactic units. Two methods have been proposed for optimizing the resulting circuits, aiming at the implementation on NISQ devices. Moreover, the work explores alternative quantum computing models, i.e., continuous- variable, adiabatic and measurement-based.
Although this is an essentially theoretical work that leaves many open issues (for instance, the limitations of CFG to approximate some linguistic phenomena), this method has been followed by an actual implementation on a NISQ device [63]. Even the implementation has been intended as a proof of concept experiment, and if it is tested on a very small scale, it can be considered the first QNLP experiment running on quantum hardware.
The research line proposed by these preliminary works has been continued and expanded in [31]. The vast majority of issues addressed by this study will be subsequently explored in further theoretical and practical work. First, it provides mathematical foundations for QNLP, exploiting diagrammatic theories provided by DisCoCat and CQM. Using these diagrammatic systems of representation, language can be interpreted in terms of quantum processes. Moreover, the resulting quantum representation of natural language can be embedded in quantum circuit form using the ZX-calculus [76]. The ZX-calculus acts as a translator from linguistic diagrams to quantum circuit. This step is crucial to allow a real implementation on quantum hardware.
This approach relies on the advocated intrinsic quantum-native nature of QNLP, allowing the possibility to merge meaning and structure of language in a single unified quantum model able to represent both syntactic and semantic levels. Another interesting cue triggered by the work of [31] is the potential meaning-awareness of the QNLP, an aspect that puts it in contrast with the vast majortiy of state-of-the-art machine learning approaches. Different levels of linguistic knowledge would not be more embedded in a “black-box” (hidden layers of a neural network), but they could be rendered explicit through the expressive possibilities of the diagrammatic representation.
Concerning possible applications, the possibility to execute NLP task on NISQ devices is discussed, although no details are presented on whether to deal with an actual implementation. The quantum speedup that the proposed approach should provide is also not demonstrated. However, the possibilities offered by NISQ paradigm are strongly supported. Notice that it is not proposed as a simple alternative to traditional methods, but variational quantum circuits [77] are considered as the best option able to offer a QNLP-friendly way for encoding linguistic data on quantum hardware.
More recently, a novel framework based on tensor contraction to build word representations as quantum states that serve as input to a quantum algorithm has been introduced by [51]. This makes it particularly suitable for classification tasks, such as sentence disambiguation or binary (yes-no) question answering. Starting from this assumption, the work proposes to use an implementation of Grover’s quantum search algorithm to find the answer to a wh-question with quantum speedup using information given directly by the tensor contractions of representations of words, as proposed by the tensor network.
The proposed framework has also been tested on a second NLP task, such as a sentence-meaning disambiguation task. In this case, the advantage of quantum superposition is exploited to store various meanings of ambiguous sentences.
Finally, the diagrammatic language of categorical quantum logic of DisCoCat has given the opportunity to compare the grammatical structures of sentences in different languages.
The study of [52] has been included in this thread. It focuses on developing compositional vector-based semantics of sentences using quantum natural language processing to compare synonymous simple sentences in English and Persian using their parametrized quantum circuits. This approach is based on a quantum long short-term memory model. Even only two languages have been considered, this approach is virtually able to generalize opening up the possibility to include different languages.
5. Quantum-Inspired Approaches
Notice that algorithms described in this section borrow mathematical frameworks from quantum mechanics but they are not designed to run on quantum hardware, but rather on classical computers. In some cases, they could theoretically be used on quantum hardware, which, however, is not currently available. A comparative visualization of the models proposed by the quantum-inspired works described below, including the datasets on which they have been tested; the performance achieved against the reference baselines is shown in the Table 2.
Table 2. Comparison of quantum-inspired approaches running on classical hardware. Since a real comparison is not always possible, only the works that have really compared with benchmark datasets already known in the literature are shown. For each model proposed, the best score obtained for the metric used with respect to the specific dataset is shown in the last column. In brackets, the best score obtained by the baseline with which each approach has been compared is indicated.
5.1. Information Retrieval
One of the first approaches advocating the use of Quantum Theory for an NLP task has been proposed by [53]. In this work, the quantum probabilistic framework is used to develop a general approach to the information retrieval task. A density matrix has been used to represent texts and term dependencies in a quantum language model (QLM), combining the flexibility of vector spaces with probabilistic calculus. Dependencies are not more represented stochastically as joined probabilities but as superposition events, i.e., additional dimensions.
The experiments have compared the proposed QLM to the baseline unigram language model, based on a bag-of-words approach, in particular Dirichlet smoothing, and to the full dependence version of the non bag-of-words MRF model. Tests have been made on different datasets (SJMN, TREC7-8, WT10g and ClueWeb-B) using the mean average precision (MAP) as metric. QLM consistently achieves results above baseline, with MAP increments varying from 12%12% to 19%19% depending on the dataset used.
A similar work [54] has proposed to introduce the quantum entanglement in order to improve the performance of QLM in the information retrieval task. The basic assumption underlying this approach is the equivalence between quantum entanglement (QE) with a traditional retrieval approach, in this case Unconditional Pure Dependence (UDP) [78] used in the Markov Random Field (MRF) retrieval model [79]. Starting from this, the occurrence of QE can be inferred extracting UDP patterns. After that, the QLM has been enhanced using QE, producing a new quantum-entanglement model for information retrieval (QQE). This enhanced model has been shown to achieve better performance than both the traditional model (MRE) and the QML. MAP has been used as metric to evaluate retrieval performance on five collections in the documents’ re-ranking task. However, performance has been evaluated only on a set of custom-created document collections and not on any benchmark dataset, making comparison with other models difficult.
Inspired by these works, another QLM that incorporated a query expansion framework to overcome restrictions due to limited vocabulary has been proposed in [55]. Despite successful applications of QLMs in the field of Information Retrieval, all these approaches are biased by the fact that the training algorithm for the original QLM is not globally convergent. Then, in order to try to reduce these imperfections affecting the final ranking, approaches that use a QLM are based on a minimal vocabulary that typically coincides with query terms. This compromised results in a significant reduction in the performance capabilities possible with QLM. Therefore, incorporating a query expansion framework into QLM opens up the possibility of using a higher number of terms into modeling. The approach is structured as follows: first, an advanced training algorithm is used to generate first-round ranking, then—in order to identify the expansion terms—a single QLM is built for the top returned results. Finally, the final ranking result is generated by applying a QLM with the new training algorithm to the expanded query.
The proposed Quantum Language Model-based Query Expansion (QLM-QE) framework has been tested on TREC datasets showing an improvement when compared to other traditional approaches. In particular, QLM-QE has been compared with four other models to evaluate performance: the Unigram baseline model, RM-HS [80], a query expansion approach inspired by quantum interference, the original QLM proposed by [53], and QMT [81], which is a quantum-like session search model inspired by the Two-State Vector Formalism (TSVF). Performance has been evaluated on TREC datasets, since they are the de facto standard for the performance evaluation for quantum models. nDGC@10 and MAP@10 have been chosen as metrics. QLM-QE has proven to outperform all other models, achieving the result of 10.37%10.37%, 15.19%15.19% (nDCG@10) and 8.94%8.94%, 17.79%17.79% (MAP@10) on TREC 2013 and TREC 2014, respectively. The most impressive result has been achieved on TREC 2013, in which there is a 89.81%89.81% improvement in MAP@10 score over the baseline and 70.83%70.83% compared with the best-performing quantum-model (QMT). However—in spite of these results—further experiments are needed to demonstrate the real benefit of a query expansion approach. In particular, comparisons should be made with classical query expansion approaches and using specific datasets for information retrieval tasks.
More recently, Ref. [56] has proposed another improvement to QLM applied to information retrieval by introducing the interference effects in the neural matching model. The work starts from a revision of neural matching models for retrieval, using a probabilistic quantum property. The proposed model—namely the Quantum Interference-inspired Neural Matching Model (QINM)—applies quantum interference theory to the neural matching model for retrieval. In particular, the proposed methodology construct the probability distribution of a document into the reduced density operator, after which the effective probability distribution is extracted using a N-gram window convolution network. Finally, the query attention mechanism calculates matching features and the final matching score is obtained. A set of experiments have been performed to test the effectiveness of the interference matching information. Performances achieved by QINM on ClueWeb-09 and Robust-04 datasets have shown a significant improvements with respect to other QLMs.
In particular, the model has been compared not only with QLM [53], but also with a neural network-based model (NNQLM), which performs density matrices optimization and learning architecture through two distinct approaches [57], and with a model that uses Quantum Many-body Wave Function and convolutional neural network (QMWF-LM) [58]. QINM has achieved much better results on both datasets using different metrics (MAP, NDCG@20, P@20, ERR@20) showing the advantage in using vectors and neural networks in the retrieval process without focusing only on semantic information but also extracting effective matching features, whose function turns out to be decisive. It is important to note that good performance is highly dependent on taking into account interference effects in relevance judgment process, which is an aspect totally ignored by other QLMs. However, it is essential to consider that the models undergoing this comparison were not designed specifically for the information retrieval task. Moreover, unlike previous work, in this case the model has been tested not only against other QLMs but also against traditional information retrieval systems, and it has achieved better performance (0.2550.255 using MAP on the Robust-04 dataset compared to 0.4180.418 reached by BM25 [82]). This result is further evidence of the advantage represented by using probability theory to improve retrieval performance.
Summing up, the information retrieval task has largely benefited from quantum-inspired approaches. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the task, using methods and concepts derived from quantum mechanics (in particular quantum probability) has led to the development of several quantum models, exploiting the representation possibilities offered by complex vector spaces (Hilbert space) [53]. This method of representation has been effective for the abstraction and contextualization of information objects such as documents and queries [83]. Different approaches have ranged from using traditional properties, such as query expansion [55] to phenomena such as quantum interference placed in the framework of neural networks [56]. Although QLMs promise the best way to model phenomena affecting information retrieval, such as ambiguity and dynamic changes of context, the research on this area requires more formal rigor both in the design of models with a strong theoretical basis with respect to the task, and in experiments.
5.2. Question Answering
Another task for which the application of quantum approaches has met with particular success is Question Answering (QA). Differently from information retrieval, a QA task is often composed by a question identified by a piece of natural language contained into a sentence or multiple keywords. Candidate answers are usually shorter than documents in the information retrieval task, hence there is low probability of overlapping between question and answer sentences. For these reasons, approaching the QA task using semantic matching via neural network is very common in the literature.
Given this premise, Ref. [57] has proposed to improve the original QLM model designed only for the information retrieval task [53]. A Neural Network-based Quantum-like Language Model (NNQLM) has been developed and applied to the QA task. It utilizes word embedding vectors as the state vectors, from which a density matrix is extracted and integrated into an end-to-end Neural Network (NN) structure. Information about similarities between each question-answer pair is encoded by density matrices in a joint representation. This representation is the source where similarity features are extracted using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The model has been tested on two datasets, TREC-QA, one of the standard benchmark resource for this task [84], and WikiQA [85], an open domain question answering dataset. For the evaluation, the MAP metric has been used, in order to make possible the comparison with previous works for the same task which use same datasets.
Several experiments have been conducted to test NNQLM on both datasets. First, it has been compared to QLM, improving performance by 11.87%11.87% on TREC-QA, and by 27.15%27.15% on WikiQA using the MAP metric (results are shown in Table 2). These results show how positively the combination of the density matrix and the simple training algorithm can impact performance. A further comparison has been carried out between NNQLM and existing neural network-based approaches. The proposed model has achieved higher scores than most baselines (for instance the MAP score of the strong baseline proposed by [86] by 2.46%2.46% on WikiQA). However, NNQLM fails to overcome some of the baselines [87,88]. In fact—even if the model is able to learn similarity patterns—it does not take into account aspects such as structures and relations of sentences and this affects the overall performance.
This work is continued and extended in [58] introducing Quantum Many-body Wave Function (QMWF) for language modeling (LM) to address QA task. QMWF-LM improves the representation space of QLMs being able to represent complex word interactions, using semantic basis vector corresponding to multiple word meanings. In addition, this word aims to solve the problem of the connection between QLMs and CNN. In particular, QMWF-LM uses a series of derivations based on projection and tensor decomposition to demonstrate that quantum representation and matching can be implemented by the CNN with a product pooling. Based on this assumption, QMWF-LM is presented as an efficient algorithm to represent and match the text/sentence pairs, and is therefore well suitable for QA tasks. QMWF-LM has been tested on different QA datasets; it has proven to be able to outperform quantum LM counterparts (i.e., QLM and NNQLM) and even to achieve better scores, whether compared with traditional CNN-based approaches on same datasets. Datasets taken into account are—similarly to previous works—TREC and WikiQA. Moreover, a third dataset has been added, YahooQA, typically used as benchmark dataset for community-based QA.
Although QMWF-LM significantly improves the performance of the original QLM (0.695%0.695% MAP with respect to 0.512%0.512% on WikiQA) some clarifications should be made. The low performance of QLM is easily explained since—unlike later approaches (NNQLM and QMWF-LM)—it is trained in an unsupervised manner. Whereas, the better performance obtained by QMWF-LM than by NNQLM is motivated by the fact that the latter does not take into account word interactions, using embedding vectors as input and a CNN to train the density matrix. Finally, QMWF-LM has been also compared with other classical CNN-based QA models [86,88], showing a comparable or even better performance.
Another work addressing QA proposes an even different approach based on a complex-valued framework [59]. Starting from a neural network built using density matrices proposed in [57], a novel quantum-theoretic framework to model language in a way closer to a cognitive point of view has been proposed. In the proposed framework, different linguistic units are modeled as quantum states using quantum probability, i.e., the mathematical framework of quantum physics aiming at model uncertainly on a unified Hilbert space with well-defined mathematical constraints and explicit physical meaning. These linguistic units are represented as complex-values vectors to preserve physical properties. The length represents the relative weight of the word and the direction is viewed as a superposition state. The superposition state is further represented in an amplitude-phase manner, in which amplitude is consistent with the lexical aspects, while phases represent semantic ones. The framework has been implemented using a complex-valued-network (CNM) and applied to QA task to be evaluated. Unlike previous approaches, in this case no CNN or RNN architectures are used, because of the difficulty to interpret structures of convolutional kernels and recurrent cells. The proposed CNM offers a simpler alternative in terms of understanding.
CNM has been tested on benchmark QA datasets (TREC and QikiQA) showing comparable performance to baselines. In particular, it achieves better performance of most traditional CNN and LSTM-based models, characterized by a more complicated structure and a larger number of parameters. In addition, it outperforms other QLMs on both datasets (in particular, it improves NNQLM MAP score by 3.88%3.88%), supporting the validity of the quantum theoretical framework.
Quantum approaches developed so far for question answering are varied and they have addressed the task in very different ways. In [57], for the fist time, the original QLM model has been extended using neural network architectures to be applied to question answering. New density matrices, for single sentences and sentence pairs, based on word embeddings have been integrated into the architecture for an effective joint training. However, this approach does not allow one to easily represent complex interactions between words, since it considers a compound word as a direct addition of the representation vectors or subspaces of the single words involved. Moreover, the desired union between quantum models and neural network remains hinted at but not formally approached. To deepen the intrinsic motivations to bridge neural network and quantum models, in [58], the analogy between the quantum many-body system and the language modeling has been proposed, trying to merge a quantum many-body wave function-inspired model with a neural network. A further investigation of the possibility offered by a robust quantum-inspired neural architecture in a higher-dimension Hilbert space has been conducted by [59].
5.3. Sentiment Analysis
Another NLP task that has benefited from many quantum-based approaches is text classification, and in particular, sentiment analysis. A method that uses features derived from quantum probability theory to perform sentiment classification has been developed by [60]. It is an unsupervised sentiment analysis approach based on a density matrix. The approach is structured as follows: two sentiment dictionaries are ad hoc created, using extended QLM density matrices of documents, and dictionaries are generated; the sentiment is the result of the similarity between dictionaries and documents calculated using quantum relative entropy. The viability of this approach to sentiment analysis has been evaluated using two datasets well-known in the literature, the Obama-McCain Debate (OMD) dataset and Sentiment Strength Twitter dataset (SS-Tweet). The results have demonstrated higher performance of this approach compared to various baselines.
This initial work has evolved [61], introducing a new approach using quantum-inspired interactive networks. Aiming at better modeling interactions and dependency dynamics between words in existing sentiment analysis approaches, authors propose a quantum-inspired interactive networks (QIN), combining quantum theory with the long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network. Correlations between words captured by the density matrix are used as an input of long LSTM. In detail, this method can be able to learn such interaction dynamics, using a density matrix-based convolutional neural network (DM-CNN) to capture intra-utterance correlations between words. A strong-weak model based on quantum measurement theory is also used to extract inter-utterance correlations and measure the influence between speakers through the utterance. The influence is integrated in an LSTM which uses textual features as inputs. Starting from the hidden states of the LSTM, affective states for each utterance are determined using a softmax function. QIN has been compared to several baselines ranging from CNN [89] to attention-based LSTM and Contextual/Hierarchical biLSTM [90]. Experiments have been carried out on two datasets with different types of annotations: MELD (3-class sentiments; 7-class emotions) and IEMOCAP (9-class emotions). In sentiment classification (3-class MELD dataset), QIN achieves higher performance than all classical models, since they do not consider contextual dependencies among utterances ignoring that the whole meaning of a utterance is influenced by preceding ones. Increasing the complexity of the task and introducing more classes (MELD 7-class and IEMOCAP 9-class), QIN continues to get the best results, but the gap narrows, settling on a 7.1%7.1% accuracy improvement over biLSTM. BiLSTM successfully achieves superior performance to other baselines, since it is able to extract contextual features, taking utterances as inputs.
More recently, a further improvement of the original work has been proposed in [62] introducing a new architecture based on a tensor network to improve performance, interpretability and expressive power. In this work, a model based on tensor network (TN) able to obtain state-of-the-art results in sentiment classification task has been proposed. The model, called TextTN, exploits the great expressive power of TNs [91] to build a tensor network-based probabilistic model for natural language representation and classification. In order to to learn and classify texts, TextTN encodes each high-dimensional word vector in a probabilistic space by a generative TN (word-GTN). Then, a discriminative TN (sentence-DTN) is used to classifiy sentences. It trains a TN for each sentence using as input word vectors extracted by word-GTNs. Sentece-DTN is also devoted to handle word interaction by the joint effect of different words for the later class predication by the loss functions. Concerning the learning algorithm, an all-function training process in the sentence-DTN has been proposed to improve the stability of TextTN. TextTN has been extensively evaluated using main sentiment text classification datasets (MR, Subj, CR and MPQA). In the comparison with classic benchmarks models, it has achieved better results than CNN [89] on all four datasets, with accuracy improvements ranging from a minimum of 0.7%0.7% to 1.9%1.9%. The comparison with the state-of-the-art self attention model proposed by [92] has returned a 0.3%0.3% and 0.7%0.7% increase, respectively, on CR and Subj datasets, while the score has remained identical on MPQA. Moreover, experiments have been carried out using TextTN in combination with pre-training word vectors from BERT on SST-2 [93] and SST-5 [94] tasks. Concerning SST-2, BERT+TextTN performs better than BERT (accuracy improved by 0.7%0.7% for SST-2 and by 1.9%1.9% for SST-5) and is comparable with ELECTRA [4].
In summary, quantum-inspired models for sentiment analysis can be considered a generalization of classical approaches. Ref. [60] proposes first an improved version of QLM for twitter sentiment analysis using the quantum probability theory. The work is extended and expanded with comparative studies and the use of different datasets, annotated with both polarity and emotion in [58]. This work combines a density matrix-based CNN with a model inspired by quantum measurement theory. An even more sophisticated quantum model, which makes even better use of the expressive potential of tensor networks, is the one proposed in [62]. Notice that, although these models achieve impressive results, there are some open issues. It is quite difficult to make proper comparison between different quantum-inspired approaches for sentiment analysis. First, experiments are carried out only in comparison with traditional models. Moreover, every approach is evaluated on different datasets, then the datasets can have different types of annotations with varying numbers of classes. This is inherent in the articulated nature of the task, but it makes the performance strongly dataset-dependent.
It is worth mentioning other works focused on tasks that have received less attention in the literature. In [95], the possibility to boost neural language models based on deep-learning using QLM has been suggested. This approach trains a quantum-enhanced Long LSTM to perform a PoS tagging task using numerical simulations. Among the advantages of the implemented quantum LSTM is the reduced use of parameters, which is less than half of the traditional one, but keeps the same performance. In addition, this work takes the first steps toward the creation of a quantum-enhanced Transformer model, used to perform sentiment analysis task. A preliminary experiment has been carried out on a IMDB dataset, although no comparative results are reported. Notice that the work does not propose the implementation of a proper quantum transformer, in which quantum circuit acts on qubits similarly to self attention and positional embedding. Rather, a quantum alternative for Transformers’ arithmetic operations is offered, even because a full implementation exceeds the current computational possibilities of the available quantum hardware.
Finally, the work proposed by [96] has explored the possibility to apply a QLM to a speech recognition task. Although this work is intended as a “proof of concept” and it does not have a full implementation, an evaluation phase has been carried out on the TIMIT dataset. The proposed QLM has been compared with two N-gram implementations and two RNN models, achieving performance comparable with state-of-the-art.
6. Quantum Computer Approaches
The following section presents works using real quantum hardware. All work listed below use NISQ computers [33]. In Table 3, some specifications of hardware and experiments are provided.
Table 3. Comparison of quantum experiments running on NISQ hardware. Note that not all details are given in the description of the experiments performed. Concering NISQ devices, all machines used have 5 qubits available and a quantum volume equal to 32.
The first implementation of an NLP task on NISQ hardware has been proposed by [63], following theoretical methods proposed in [49]. Conceptual and mathematical foundations on which these work are based are described in [31]. It uses DisCoCat, adopting the paradigm of Parameterized quantum circuits as machine learning models [77]. The core of the proposed approach is considering DisCoCat as a tensor network model of natural language meaning [97]. Meanings of words are encoded as co-occurrence frequencies or other word-embeddings produced by neural network. These tensor networks can be represented as string diagrams [98], composed of boxes with input and output wires, each of which carries a type. Boxes are composed to form process networks by wiring outputs to inputs by ensuring types are respected. Output-only processes are called states and input-only processes are called effects.
The approach has been tested on a question answering task using a labeled dataset composed by 30 randomly generated sentences using a finite vocabulary and a context-free grammar (CFG) [99] and represented as a syntax tree. These sentences are converted into DisCoCat diagrams. An optimization (or training) step is needed in order to match the predicted labels with labels in the training set. The optimization has been performed using SPSA (Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation) [100], which has been proven to perform well in noisy settings. This approach reformulates the problem as a supervised learning task of binary classification for sentences, i.e., a special case of question answering already known in the literature [101,102]. Before each circuit can be run on a backend, it has been compiled using the quantum compiler 𝑡|𝑘𝑒𝑡〉𝑇𝑀�|���〉�� [103]. The quantum compilation operates in this way: given a circuit and a device, quantum operations are decomposed in terms of devices native gateset, then the quantum circuit is make compatible with the device topology. In addition, the compiler tries to minimize the most noisy operations. After that, the circuits run on two IBMQ quantum computers ibmq_montreal and ibmq_toronto, whose quantum volume is 32 for both, with a maximum allowed number of shots equal to 213213.
Concerning results, first a classical simulation has been performed. For the QA task, sentence circuits have been evaluated using classical hardware. For this simulation, the entire corpus of 30 sentences with a vocabulary consisting of 7 words has been taken into account. The experiments running on NISQ device has instead exploited only 16 sentences with a vocabulary of 6 words. The best results achieved reach a train error of 12.5%12.5% and a test error of 37.5%37.5% on ibmq_toronto; values decrease further on ibmq_montreal, where the train error is null, while the test error stops at 37.5%37.5%.
In [64], the first full experiments at a medium-scale, focused on two NLP tasks running on quantum hardware, have been performed. This work starts from earlier work [63] and—differently from previous approaches—does not intend to provide evidence of the so-called “quantum advantage” in terms of performance. Therefore, these experiments aim to explore the challenges and limitations of training and running an NLP model on a NISQ device. In addition, this work contributes to shifting traditional approaches to NLP tasks to a quantum-friendly form, proposing a quantum pipeline equivalent to the classical one. Two tasks are proposed, and both of them are structured as binary classification problems. The first one, namely the classification task (MC), uses a dataset of 130 sentences plain-syntax generated from a fixed vocabulary using a simple CFG that can refer to one of two possible topics, food or IT. For the second task, 105 noun phrases are extracted from the RelPron dataset [104], and the goal of the model is to predict whether a noun phrase contains a subject-based or an object-based relative clause. This task, identified using the acronym RP, is more challenging since it requires some syntactic awareness from the model, so it is a very reasonable choice for testing DisCoCat. Notice that, even these datasets can appear small or simple, as they already reach the limits of the currently available quantum hardware. Using DisCoCat, every different grammatical structure of a sentence is mapped to different quantum circuits. A simplified version of the quantum pipeline used in this work is shown in Figure 3. In detail, in order to propose a full NLP pipeline equivalent to classical ones, sentences need to be represented in a tree form consistent using a parser. A parser, based on categorial grammar [105], has been used to obtain representation consistent with DisCoCat. Subsequently, every diagram is mapped to a specific quantum circuit. The mapping is defined by a conjunction of choices formulated as an ansatz, allowing to make choices based on the specific hardware. Every NISQ machine has a different sets of native gates indeed, of which some are more prone to error than others. These steps have been implemented using the python implementation of DisCoCAT [106]. To estimate the expectations of a hypothetical noise-free quantum device, a simulation has been performed. According to this simulation, the train and test errors reported after 500 iterations for the MC task are 16.9%16.9% and 20.2%20.2%, respectively. For the second task on the RELPRON dataset, RP train errors are equal to 9.4%9.4%, while those of the test reach 27.7%27.7%. Higher test error value for the RP task—at equal task complexity—are motivated by a broader vocabulary (115 words) with respect to the MC one (17 words). Once each sentence has been represented by a quantum circuit according the the chosen ansatz, circuits are converted into machine specific instructions using 𝑡|𝑡𝑒𝑡〉𝑇𝑀�|���〉�� compiler. After that, the quantum device ibmq_bogota executes the circuit 𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠��ℎ��� times. This IBM machine is a superconducting quantum computing device with 5 qubits and a quantum volume of 32. In particular, initial states are prepared for each run, gates are applied and all qubits are measured. This step returns the count of the shots for all qubits. Every time the error cost is calculated, compiled circuits corresponding to all sentences are sent to the device as a single job. After that, each circuit is run the the maximum possible number of time offered by the machine (213213 in this case). For every sentence, estimations of relative frequencies are calculated in the order of a post-processing step aimed at calculating task-specific results. In order to minimize the impact of quantum noise, the experiments has been performed on a single run (100 iterations for the MC task with a exclusive access of ibmq_bogota with 12 h of runtime and 130 iterations for the RP task in a sharing mode with 72 h or runtime). Results demonstrate a test error of 16.7%16.7% for the MC task and 32.3%32.3% for the RP one, with F-score of 0.850.85 and 0.750.75. Although it is impossible to make an objective comparison with the simulator, these can be considered good results concerning the size of the datasets, factors affecting NISQ devices and different conditions in which experiments have been carried out. The simulation has been run on classical hardware without noise during many averaged runs, while quantum computation has been performed on a single run on a device affected by noise.
Figure 3. A simplified version of the pipeline proposed by [64].
In [65], a preliminary experiment focused on machine translation using DisCoCat has been proposed. The goal of the experiment is the possibility of a quantum-like approach for language understanding in different languages.
This is the first work trying to use DisCoCat for a language other than English. In particular, simple, complex and negative sentences in two languages (Spanish and English) have been converted into DisCoCat diagrams, then into quantum circuits. Negative sentences do not succeed to be managed from the system even if DisCoCat model is capable of describing negative sentences and constructing diagrams. However, although some solutions have been proposed in the literature, the possibility of mapping negations using functors is still an open issue [107].
After that, these sentences have been encoded in an IBMQ quantum machine using python language. In particular, using an optimized model (IBM Q NISQ backend) has demonstrated that it can answer factoid questions related to an input vocabulary. According to the theoretical approaches proposed in the literature [63], the score achieved by IBMQ is close to 1, indicating the correctness of the statement. The evaluation phase has shown that the system is able to give consistent answers handling simple sentences. The results are also quite good, as the complexity and length of the sentences increase. Evaluation phase show a sentence similarity between the two languages, reaching a value of 95%95%. Notice that, although the work claims to have used a NISQ device, no specific information is provided about the implementation, machine type or dataset in detail.
7. Discussion
As can be observed from the Table 1, there has been an evolution in the tasks affected by the QNLP. The possibilities offered by the compositional distributional model has opened up a line of research that initially (in a pre-quantum era) has focused on very specific tasks and critical aspects of NLP. On the one hand, the initial interests of scholars have addressed the issue of a formal syntax-semantic representation, testing the DisCoCat framework of well-known corpora such as the BNC. These interests in formal aspects of language have ranged from modeling structures such as logical negation to disambiguation. Many of these aspects have already been dealt with in the linguistic field with Lambek’s pregroup grammar and within the broader framework of categorical grammars [108,109].
These subtle linguistic issues have remained the main topic moving to the early theoretical quantum approaches. In these works, first, QNLP algorithms have been proposed, theoretically demonstrating the advantages at the methodological level and in terms of performance. The possibility to successfully execute DisCoCat on a quantum hardware benefiting from quantum speedup has first been addressed in [26].
In order to overcome the big shortcoming of this first attempt, i.e., a total dependence on the theorized but never realized QRAM, alternative solutions have been proposed. In [31], a family of quantum machine learning algorithms—namely variational quantum circuits—have been used to indirectly encode data on the quantum computer. A different approach is the one proposed in [49]; to avoid the need of QRAM entirely, the classical ansatz parameters are exploited to encode distributional embedding. The feasibility of the latter approach has been confirmed, since the proposed pipeline has actually been implemented on a NISQ device—albeit with limitations and on a small scale—and it has achieved good performance in the question answering task.
Concerning hybrid quantum-inspired approaches running on classical hardware, this is the sub-field that has attracted the most interest in the literature so far. On the one hand, the reason is the physical possibility of being able to perform experiments without having to rely on quantum machines. On the other hand, these are the only approaches that have had the possibility of being compared with benchmark datasets in the literature and for which performance can be estimated according to classical metrics that are well known in NLP tasks.
These hybrid approaches have arisen from the need to study the machine learning and artificial intelligence problems using a point of view borrowed from quantum theory.
The first QLM proposed has taken into account the quantum probability theory to overcome the limitations of traditional LMs, based on classic probability theory, whose number of needed parameters grows progressively with the complexity of word dependencies. The natural field in which to apply this QLM has been information retrieval. The original QLM is based on encoding the probability measurement for both single words and compound words using a density matrix with a fixed dimensionality. Derivative works have extended the approach by introducing features such as query expansion or quantum interference. The success of this approach applied to ad hoc information retrieval task, which is capable of achieving performance comparable to classical LMs, has made it the benchmark model used to evaluate the performance of all subsequent quantum-inspired works. There are many reasons to apply the first quantum-inspired to the Information Retrieval task. Firstly, there is a historical reason. Information Retrieval has been the first task for which the possibility to apply the mathematical framework of quantum mechanics in Hilbert space has been theorized [83]. In addition, there is an immediate motivation on a practical level, since the quantum advantage impacts mainly on tasks whose cost tends to be exponential, such as Information Retrieval. After that, several studies in the literature have demonstrated that quantum speedup can more likely affect NLP tasks related to similarity calculations. This has meant that subsequent work has focused not only on the similarity of the query and the documents (Information Retrieval) but also on the similarity of the question and the answers (question answering) and the similarity of the sentences (text classification).
Concerning Question Answering, models that combine QLM and end-to-end neural networks to exploit the density matrix better have been developed (NNLQM). Subsequently, other work has highlighted the inability of early models to apply the fundamental theoretical connections between quantum theory and neural networks in the language modeling process. Therefore, more sophisticated question answering models have been proposed in order to model the complex interactions among ambiguous words with multiple meanings using properties such as the Quantum Many-body Wave Function. Moving to the text classification task, In this case, the QLMs have focused on a specific case, i.e., sentiment analysis task. The interest, as well as the difficulty of this task, lies in the interactions between the utterances and the variability of the datasets. Sentiment datasets can have different annotations based on the emotions/sentiments involved in the analysis. The task has been approached in different ways, using a density matrix-based convolutional network to identify interactions within each utterance or formalizing a tensor network method for natural language representation.
Notice that almost all of these models are based on a density matrix defined in a quantum probabilistic space. Density matrix has proven to be an effective way in representing and modeling language in different NLP tasks, encoding more semantic dependencies with respect to classic word embeddings. Moreover, NLP tasks—although well known in the literature—are relatively simple and structured in a comparable manner. Concerning evaluation, although some models claim to outperform deep learning-based approaches, a proper comparative analysis between QLMs is currently not possible. In fact, there is still no agreement on either the baseline dataset or the metrics chosen by QLMs; each model has been tested against different baselines and compared with a different set of other models.
The experimental stage of QNLP is even more evident, moving to approaches running on real quantum hardware. Significantly few approaches have been developed so far, and there is a further simplification concerning NLP tasks. The tasks remain roughly the same (question answering [63], text classification [64] and a preliminary experiment on translation of simple sentences [65]; the experiments have been carried out on custom small-scale datasets with simple sentences and a minimal vocabulary. Even the largest dataset used so far in a NISQ experiment (100 sentences for a classification task in [64]) remains on dimension enormously smaller if compared to that of deep learning-based architectures. Notice that at the time of the listed work, NISQ devices can have 50-100 qubits. Currently, the most powerful IBM Quantum machines reach 127 qubits (source: https://www.ibm.com/quantum-computing/systems/ accessed on on 1 June 2022).
Although these limitations make difficult to compare quantum-hardware approaches with classical deep-learning ones, as hardware power grows, this drawback may be removed. It is highly feasible that, in the future, NISQ devices will be able to work on the benchmark datasets well known in NLP community.
Notice that hardware limits of QNLP are the same shared with the whole field of quantum computing (i.e., unrealized QRAM, the limited number of qubits, lack of fault-tolerant quantum machine). For instance, the lack of the theorized QRAM has forced scholars to find alternative approaches, such as ansatz circuits, which have been proven to achieve good results for the specific task in the parameterization of word meanings [64]. However, this approach forces a preliminary step of choosing an optimal circuit to be performed each time for each specific task. The possibility of generalizing using ansatze is far from being proven yet. This makes this type of approach a difficult path to follow in the view of general performance of a model not limited to a single task. The small number of qubits available instead constrains a very low limit on the number of sentences, their length and the overall span of vocabulary. A higher number of sentence or a larger vocabulary imply a scalability issue, since it means a higher dimensional parameter space. This aspect is somewhat inconsistent with the supposed “quantum native ” status of QNLP; however, it is only partially caused by the limitations of current quantum hardware architectures.
Indeed, the reasons why approaches running on quantum hardware cannot currently offer a viable alternative to classical models lie not only in technical reasons. For example, solving the above scalability problem is not enough to rely on higher-performance hardware. The process that allows converting natural language sentences into their diagrammatic representation and then into real quantum circuits theorized in [49] and implemented in [63] works only for particular cases because the system’s internal grammar is capable of correctly handling the representation of only specific sentences. Moreover, there are several open issues concerning the implementation of logical operators used in diagrammatic language to deal with specific language structures.
As a summarization of this overview, this field of research has appeared to be at a very preliminary stage. Many conceptual and mathematical foundations have been pointed out in the first works that appeared in literature; many of these aspects have found application in quantum-inspired solutions evaluated on classical hardware, revealing, albeit in an embryonic way, the enormous potentialities of the QNLP. Only very recently, a reduced subset of these quantum-inspired solutions has found a way to be tested on NISQ quantum hardware, showing promising results although operating on small datasets and simplified scenarios, and not considering at all how to exhaustively assess a quantum speed-up for QNLP. To point out some elements worthy of future investigations, first of all, from an experimental point of view, relevant aspects affecting the performances of QNLP approaches regard how to (i) benchmark the optimisation algorithms, (ii) choose ansatz solutions, training methods and various hyper-parameters, (iii) assess the possible relationship between corpus size, wire dimensionality and generalization. This will also open up an exploratory arena for future work on assessing trade-offs of performance achieved with different ansatz families and optimization parameters in a specific task versus general performance on many tasks. On the other hand, from a theoretical perspective, how much the claims held out by the QNLP are valid is yet to be proven at a purely linguistic level. Although these quantum models promise to reduce the bottleneck of the need for extensive annotated resources, it is also true that they require a grammar to describe the structures of the language under analysis. Such grammar must be formalized in a formal logical language and is based on the CFGs mentioned above, whose expressive potential has never been tested on such a large scale. In addition, the low uptake of CFGs in NLP means that there are a small number of tools, such as parsers or pos-taggers, which are currently valid only for specific cases and for small data. This raises questions about the scalability of the approach and practical portability, risking creating a future scenario in which resources (i.e., grammars that formalize the language) are available only to rich-resource languages.
8. Conclusions
Although QNLP is still a new area of research and applications have focused on relatively simple tasks so far, it has already shown numerous opportunities and advantages in many ways.
First of all, from a theoretical point of view, the mechanics of natural language could be better handled by a quantum-based approach: this is the so-called “quantum native” view of QNLP, supported by many studies. Therefore, quantum language models would be better suited to understand and describe natural language phenomena in a way that is more aligned with real human cognitive processes. However, although this claim is fascinating, there is currently no concrete evidence to support it except in managing specific cases, i.e., simple sentences with a limited and controlled vocabulary. This reflects neither the actual way of learning human language nor its production. From an applicative point of view, probably a solution could come in the future at the increased power and storage capacity of quantum computers that could be the most realistic and suitable option to deal with increasingly large vector spaces. From a theoretical side, introducing different types of sentences with different construction using CFG and Pregroups is costly, since, in some cases, it means that these resources have to be built from scratch. In addition, there are also some concerns about the ability of these kinds of grammars to be able to approximate all kinds of linguistic phenomena
Concerning the so-called “quantum advantage”, similar or even better performance has been achieved by some QNLP models running on classical hardware in various tasks, compared to state-of-the-art baselines. As an example of the application of these statements, QNLP models have been applied to manage aspects of NLP, which have always been critical to deal with the classical probabilistic models, such as interference phenomenon in information retrieval, term dependencies or ambiguity resolution.
However, the performance boost offered by the quantum speedup have been only theoretically demonstrated, relying on a quantum hardware that can take the benefit of still unrealized and expensive QRAM. Although alternative solutions have been found to make up for this shortcoming, implementations on NLP tasks cannot yet be remotely comparable to the classic ones well known in the literature. The data on which these approaches have been tested are in fact very small (about 100 natural language sentences in medium-scale experiments) due to current limitations imposed by NISQ computers and for very restricted tasks due to the need of an ad hoc created grammar for the sentence involved in the experiment.
Concerning future work, the desirable end of dependence on large datasets and complex models with a huge number of parameters can undoubtedly be addressed by the QNLP, but many issues remain open. From a theoretical point of view, there is still the question of scalability in building CFGs underlying the models and the possibility of creating compelling formal descriptions for different languages. Instead, from an application point of view, it could regard the usage of more significant real-world data as well as the implementation of more complex QNLP tasks such as sentence similarity and all those tasks involving ambiguities that may benefit most from the quantum native approach of QNLP. However, although it will presumably take years before QNLP approaches can be executed on a large scale, as is the case today for deep learning-based models, QNLP can offer the unique opportunity to use quantum properties to deal with challenging language phenomena in a manner more similar to how natural language works. This has been demonstrated by the successes of using quantum superposition to model uncertainties and ambiguity in language or entanglement to describe both composition and distribution of syntax and semantics effectively.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, R.G. and M.E.; data curation, R.G.; formal analysis, R.G.; funding acquisition, G.D.P.; investigation, R.G; methodology, R.G. and M.E.; project administration, M.E.; supervision, G.D.P. and M.E.; writing—original draft preparation, R.G.; writing—review and editing, M.E. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-50977907609823370152023-08-08T12:21:00.001+02:002023-08-08T12:21:47.049+02:00Frequency-modulated continuous waves controlled by space-time-coding metasurface with nonlinearly periodic phases
Drs. Michael Gerhard Maerien, DCam, DCounsPsych, LLD, Dlitt, Mart, BSI, MIS, MscI
Abstract
The rapid development of space-time-coding metasurfaces (STCMs) offers a new avenue to manipulate spatial electromagnetic beams, waveforms, and frequency spectra simultaneously with high efficiency. To date, most studies are primarily focused on harmonic generations and independent controls of finite-order harmonics and their spatial waves, but the manipulations of continuously temporal waveforms that include much rich frequency spectral components are still limited in both theory and experiment based on STCM. Here, we propose a theoretical framework and method to generate frequency-modulated continuous waves (FMCWs) and control their spatial propagation behaviors simultaneously via a novel STCM with nonlinearly periodic phases. Since the carrier frequency of FMCW changes with time rapidly, we can produce customized time-varying reflection phases at will by the required FMCW under the illumination of a monochromatic wave. More importantly, the propagation directions of the time-varying beams can be controlled by encoding the metasurface with different initial phase gradients. A programmable STCM prototype with a full-phase range is designed and fabricated to realize reprogrammable FMCW functions, and experimental results show good agreement with the theoretical analyses.
Introduction
Over the past decades, metamaterials and metasurfaces have demonstrated powerful abilities to manipulate the properties of electromagnetic (EM) waves and wavefronts1,2,3,4. As a kind of two-dimensional (2D) patterned interface, metasurfaces can be arbitrarily controlled to achieve exotic EM phenomena that are not possible in nature, as particularly valued by the applications such as beamforming, polarization conversion, and holographic imaging5,6,7,8. The local control of the reflection/transmission features at different positions of the metasurfaces is accomplished by altering the shapes, dimensions, and spatial alignments of meta-atoms, which offers unprecedented degrees of freedom to synthesize the amplitude and phase profiles. However, the metasurfaces have only fixed functions once they are fabricated. To tackle this problem, the concept of digital coding and programmable metasurfaces was proposed9, and the corresponding radiation/scattering characteristics of the metasurfaces are highly related to the coding sequences of finite types of meta-atoms. Once tunable devices are incorporated in the meta-atoms, such as positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diode, varactor, graphene, and liquid crystals, it is feasible to develop reprogrammable platforms using a single metasurface for completely different functions switched in real-time, such as dynamic beam generations, beam scanning, and scattering reductions
Although the metasurfaces have aroused great interest in both scientific and engineering communities, they are still limited by the constraints of Lorentz reciprocity in manipulating the EM waves. To overcome this difficulty, time-modulated metasurfaces have been further developed, with the constitutive parameters varying in the time and space domains to break the Lorentz reciprocity, thus bringing a new degree of freedom for manipulating the frequency spectra of the EM waves15,16,17,18. Plenty of novel physical phenomena and applications have been inspired, including non-reciprocal antennas, Doppler cloaks, frequency conversion, and compression of lines of force14,19,20,21,22. In addition, as an alternative, space-time modulation can be implemented by modulating the parameters of different circuit components, so that the space-time modulation was first introduced into the circuit system. In this way, researchers have successively achieved excellent circuit characteristics such as accumulation of EM energy, wireless transfer enhancement of power and information, and power combiner of EM waves23,24,25. However, the proposed space-time-modulated metasurfaces are mostly based on theoretical analyses or numerical simulations, and there are considerable difficulties and limitations in experimental realizations.
Recently, nonlinear frequency modulations based on time-domain-coding metasurfaces and space-time-coding metasurfaces (STCMs) have attracted considerable attention. Different from the previous analog time-domain modulations of EM/circuit characteristic parameters, by elaborately designing the reflection amplitudes/phases in different time slices in a digital-coding way, it is possible to tailor the propagation behaviors of nonlinear harmonics18,26,27,28,29. Some unique applications based on STCMs have been reported, including independent control of multiple harmonics, high-efficiency frequency synthesizer, space-time modulation, and nonlinear polarization synthesis30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37. Direct digital information modulations can also be realized by STCM, which enables us to construct new architecture wireless communication transmitters26,38,39,40,41,42. It can be seen that the metasurface has gradually evolved from a tool for wave manipulations to an integrated information system. As a vital part of the system, the generation of transmitting temporal signals based on STCMs is still unconsidered.
Furthermore, in engineering applications, especially in the field of modern radar systems, an agile synthesis scheme for continuous-time waveforms is a longing for applications. With the increasing complication and diversification of targets under detection, modern radar technology should be developed towards higher speeding and ranging accuracies. Hence, the pulse compression technique is especially favored with large time-width and large bandwidth to solve the conflict between the time-width and bandwidth43,44,45,46,47,48. The typical pulse compression signals are intra-pulse frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signals, whose instantaneous frequencies change with time. Currently, the FMCW signal generation primarily relies on voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) or direct digital synthesis (DDS) technologies49,50,51,52. However, both solutions are operating at the circuit level, which requires high-performance devices to achieve excellent signal qualities. Meanwhile, advanced digital signal processors (DSPs) are accompanied by the modulation/demodulation processes. To reduce the device cost and facilitate system integration, some researchers pointed out that analog signal processing can be implemented directly with the metasurface phasors53,54,55, which is much advantageous for handling broadband information at high frequencies. Such architectures are very simple and have low costs compared to the traditional DSP devices, and provide a competitive plan for constructing new electronic systems. However, the frequency synthesizers and antennas cannot be effectively integrated together, which greatly hinders the development of such new-concept systems.
To this aim, here we propose a theoretical framework and methodology to realize typical FMCW signals and manipulate their propagation directions in spatial domain simultaneously via the STCM. A novel STCM with full-phase-range modulation is presented and fabricated to validate the proposed theory and methodology. The measurement results are in good agreement with the theoretical analyses, showing good application potentials of the proposed scheme in future radar systems.
Results
Generation of FMCWs based on STCM
The frequency-modulated (FM) signal is usually obtained by linear or nonlinear frequency modulation of a single-tone signal, whose instantaneous frequency f is varied with time. Thus the phase of the FM signal can be expressed by the calculus of the instantaneous frequency function f(t)�(�)6:
S(t)=A(t)exp[jφ(t)]=A(t)exp[j⋅2π∫f(t)dt]�(�)=�(�)exp[�φ(�)]=�(�)exp[�⋅2�∫�(�)��]
(1)
where A(t)�(�) and φ(t)φ(�) are the amplitude and phase of the transmitting waveform S(t)�(�), respectively. From Eq. (1), it is easy to find that we can synthesize the temporal transmitting waveform of FMCW by changing the instantaneous reflection phase of STCM dynamically. We present the concept illustration of the FMCW waveform generation in Fig. 1. Under the control of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that offers external time-varying biasing voltages of meta-atoms, we can obtain a dynamic reflection coefficient with the STCM: Γ(t)=|Γ(t)|exp[jφ(t)]Γ(�)=|Γ(�)|exp[�φ(�)], in which |Γ(t)||Γ(�)| and φ(t)φ(�) are the amplitude and phase of Γ(t)Γ(�), respectively. If we get accurate phase responses according to the demands of linear or nonlinear frequency modulation functions, it is possible to synthesize different types of FMCWs as required at the same platform.
Fig. 1: Concept illustration of waveform generations and beam shaping of various FMCWs by a programmable STCM with nonlinearly periodic phases.
Under the control of a FPGA that offers external nonlinear periodic voltage control signals, the different types of FMCW signals can be synthesized as required at the same STCM platform. By further optimizing the initial voltage distributions among different regions of the metasurface, the propagation directions of the FMCW beams can be manipulated freely.
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Specifically, when the metasurface is excited by a monochromatic wave at the normal incidence with the carrier frequency of fc�� and the electric field Ei(t)=exp(j2πfct)��(�)=exp(�2����), the echo wave Er(t)��(�) can be represented as:
Er(t)=Ei(t)⋅Γ(t)=|Γ(t)|exp{j[2πfct+φ(t)]}��(�)=��(�)⋅Γ(�)=|Γ(�)|exp{�[2����+φ(�)]}
(2)
Assume that we have a highly reflective metasurface with the reflection amplitude |Γ(t)||Γ(�)| equal to 1, φ(t)φ(�) is a periodic function of time as follows
φ(t)=∑n=−∞+∞φ0(t−nT)φ(�)=∑�=−∞+∞φ0(�−��)
(3a)
where
φ0(t)=φ(t)[ε(t)−ε(t−T)]φ0(�)=φ(�)[ε(�)−ε(�−�)]
(3b)
Note that φ0(t)φ0(�) is a portion of φ(t)φ(�) in a period T, and ε(⋅)ε(⋅) is the step function. When the phase difference of φ0(t)φ0(�) at the starting and ending time of each period is the integral multiple of 2π2�
Δφ=φ0(T)−φ0(0)=2mπΔφ=φ0(�)−φ0(0)=2��
(4)
in which m is an integer, the phase continuity can be ensured during the modulation in Eq. (2), indicating that the reflected wave is a phase-continuous wave without sharp phase jumps. In addition, if φ0(t)φ0(�) is differentiable in the range of [0, T], we can calculate the instantaneous frequency f(t)�(�) of the reflected wave as:
f(t)=fc+12π∑n=−∞+∞d[φ0(t−nT)]dt�(�)=��+12�∑�=−∞+∞�[φ0(�−��)]��
(5)
From Eq. (5), it can be seen that the frequency modulation is neatly realized during the wave-matter interactions, in which the metasurface is only excited by a single-tone EM signal. Both linear and nonlinear frequency modulations can be implemented on the same platform, and the modulation functions can be programmed by software31,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49. We remark that we do not need the frequency synthesizing module used in the traditional superheterodyne systems, and hence greatly reduce the system costs and system complexity. During the generation of FMCW waveform based on STCM, it is worth noting that Eq. (4) should be satisfied, and the reflection phase φ(t)φ(�) should be differentiable in each period as well.
Linear and nonlinear FMCW signal generations based on STCM
For the linear frequency modulation, where f(t)�(�) is a linear function of time, the reflection phase φ0(t)φ0(�) should be a quadratic function from Eq. (1). From Eq. (4), we can get the general expression of φ0(t)φ0(�) of the linear FMCW as:
φ0(t)=Φ0+(2mπT−pπT)t+pπt2,0≤t≤Tφ0(�)=Φ0+(2���−���)�+���2,0≤�≤�
(6)
in which Φ0Φ0 is the initial phase, p is the linear FM slope, and T is the period of the waveform. For simplicity, we assign Φ0=0Φ0=0 in all linear and nonlinear frequency modulations.
The instantaneous frequency of the waveform is f0(t)=fc+(mT−pT2)+pt�0(�)=��+(��−��2)+�� by taking the derivative of φ0(t)φ0(�). On one hand, the item (mT−pT2)(��−��2) offers an additional frequency offset to the carrier frequency of the incident wave fc��, so that we can control the initial frequency of the FMCW signal freely. On the other hand, this item ensures the phase continuity condition as demanded by Eq. (4), which is helpful to smooth the frequency response curve. The reflected phase of STCM needs to traverse 2mπ2�� in one period, indicating that the FMCW waveform goes through m times of oscillations. To intuitively display the properties of the STCM-based linear FMCW signal, Fig. 2a and b illustrate four types of φ0(t)φ0(�) under different combinations of m and p: m = 5 and p = 10T210�2, m = 5 and p = −10T2−10�2, m = 10 and p = 20T220�2, as well as m = 10 and p = −20T2−20�2, respectively. The insets show the corresponding time-frequency diagrams, which have been down-converted from the incident frequency fc�� to the baseband. Figure 2c and d exhibit the corresponding linear FMCW waveforms in one period, in which the displayed waveforms are demodulated from fc�� to the basebands. Owing to the highly reflective feature, the reflected signal can be regarded as a constant envelope signal. By changing the frequency slope p and the repetition number m of STCM, the initial frequency and the waveform of the linear FMCW can be effectively controlled.
Fig. 2: Generations of linear FMCW signals based on STCM with nonlinear periodic phases.
a, b Four types of reflection phase responses φ0(t)φ0(�) under different combinations of the frequency slope p and the repetition number m, in which the insets show the corresponding time-frequency diagrams after down-conversions. c, d The linear FMCW waveforms of the four cases in baseband
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In contrast to the linear FMCW, nonlinear frequency modulations are also frequently encountered for radar applications56,57,58, hence we need to investigate the nonlinear FMCW generations. Three typical nonlinear FMCW signals are considered: polynomial, sinusoidal, and S-shaped FMCWs. Detailed analytical expressions of the waveforms can be found in Materials and methods. Figure 3a and b display the required phases φ0(t)φ0(�) of STCM and the corresponding baseband waveforms for the quadratic (n = 2, m = 5, and p = 15T315�3) and cubic (n = 3, m = 5, and p = 20T420�4) polynomial FMCWs, respectively, and the insets demonstrate the corresponding time-frequency diagrams. Figure 3c and d give the same curves for sinusoidal FMCWs with (n = 1, m = 0, Δf=5TΔ�=5�) and (n = 2, m = 0, Δf=5TΔ�=5�), respectively. The cases of double sinusoidal FMCW (k = 2, n = 1, m = 0, and Δf2=2Δf1=5TΔ�2=2Δ�1=5�) and the S-shaped FMCW (n = 1, m = 5, p = 10T210�2 and Δf=5TΔ�=5�) are illustrated in Fig. 3e–h, respectively.
Fig. 3: Generations of nonlinear FMCW signals based on STCM with nonlinear periodic phases.
a, c, e, g, Reflection phase responses φ0(t)φ0(�) for Polynomial FMCWs under two different power index n (a), Sinusoidal FMCWs under two different coefficient n (c), Double sinusoidal FMCW (e), and S-shaped FMCW (g), in which the insets of a, c, e, g show the corresponding time-frequency diagrams after down-conversions. b, d, f, h The nonlinear FMCW waveforms of the four types in baseband.
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Dynamic beam shaping of the STCM-based FMCWs
Besides generating the FMCW signals, STCM can engineer the beam propagation behaviors of the transmitted FMCW signals in the space domain at the same time. Such characteristics are especially favored for system integration since the metasurface serves as a combination of phased array antenna and frequency synthesizer. To realize the far-field beamforming with the metasurface, it is necessary to construct specific amplitude and phase profiles for the composing meta-atoms according to the antenna theory59. Since the reflection loss at the interface of the meta-atom is not very large, we only need to optimize the phase distributions of the whole metasurface to control the beam deflections. Suppose that STCM is made of N columns with a column width of d. Each column has an independent initial phase Φ0,nΦ0,�, where the subscript n represents the column number. Herein, we introduce an initial phase gradient along the metasurface, thus Φ0,nΦ0,� can be expressed as Φ0,n=Φ0,1+(n−1)φadj.Φ0,�=Φ0,1+(�−1)φadj., where φadj.φadj. is the phase difference between the adjacent two columns. Thereupon, the initial reflected electric field of the n-th column could be written as Er,n(t)=Er,1(t)exp{j[(n−1)φadj.]}��,�(�)=��,1(�)exp{�[(�−1)φadj.]}. In the case of the FM deviation Δf≪fcΔ�≪��, imitating the analysis method of the uniform linear antenna-arrays60, we can calculate the beam deflection angle θc�� of FMCW as:
θc=arcsin(c2πfcdφadj.)��=arcsin(�2����φadj.)
(7)
in which c is the light speed in vacuum. By dynamically adjusting the phase difference φadj.φadj., the reflected phase gradient will be continuously changed, and the beam deflection angle can be varied in time.
It is worth noting that, here, we only change the initial phases of the meta-atoms to achieve the desired phase patterns, which implies that the initial phase Φ0Φ0 varies at different positions of the metasurface. But it has no impact on the system performance because, in the FMCW system, we detect the targets based on the frequency difference between the transmitted and received signals, which is not sensitive to the initial phase Φ0Φ0 of FMCW in Eq. (6)6.
Design of the STCM structure
To validate the theoretical analysis, we design a reflective STCM with a full-phase range. Each element of STCM consists of a meta-atom and its mirror structure along x direction. As illustrated in Fig. 4a, the meta-atom includes a dielectric substrate (F4B, ϵr=2.2��=2.2, and tanδ=0.0015tan�=0.0015), a metallic ground, and an upper patch with complementary interdigital structures. The varactor diodes (SMV-1405, Skyworks, Inc.) are incorporated into the meta-atoms to provide reconfigurability of the meta-atoms. The equivalent circuit model and detailed effective circuit parameters can be found in ref. 40. Compared to previously reported full-phase-coverage meta-atoms42,61, the proposed one employs the interdigital structures as the distributed capacitors to replace the chip capacitors, which can reduce the risk of device inconsistency and improve the stability of the EM responses. Several metallic via-holes are used in the middle region to provide reverse DC biasing voltages to the varactors. The resonant frequency of the meta-atom can be gradually tuned by increasing the biasing voltage62, thus achieving a large phase tuning range over 360°. With the help of EM optimizations, the dimensions of the meta-atom in Fig. 4a are finally determined as: Pa�� = 15 mm, Pb�� = 23.8 mm, w1�1 = 4 mm, w2�2 = 5.5 mm, Dvia�via = 0.5 mm, d = 3 mm, e = 1 mm, h = 4 mm, g1�1 = 0.2 mm, g2�2 = 1.8 mm, g3�3 = 0.6 mm, and g4�4 = 0.4 mm.
Fig. 4: Design details, EM properties, and measurement setup of the STCM.
a Design of meta-atoms for STCM, where the inset shows the details of the interdigital structures. b, c The simulated refection amplitude and phase spectra under different biasing voltages, in which the highlighted region stands for the bandwidth with over 360o phase coverage. d The measured amplitude and phase responses under different biasing voltages from 0 to 19 V at 2.6 GHz. e Photograph of the fabricated metasurface prototype, where the inset shows the details of the meta-atoms. f Experimental setup configuration
To obtain the reflected amplitude and phase responses of the meta-atom, full-wave EM simulations are performed by using a commercial EM solver (CST Microwave Studio 2019). The boundary conditions of the meta-atom along the x and y directions in Fig. 4a are set as perfectly electric conductor (PEC) and perfectly magnetic conductor (PMC), respectively, to mimic a two-dimensional infinite meta-atom array. An x-polarized EM wave is normally incident upon the meta-atom as the excitation. During the simulation, the varactor diodes are described as an equivalent circuit model40. The simulated reflection amplitude and phase spectra are illustrated in Fig. 4b and c. When the biasing voltage increases from 0 to 19 V, the resonant frequency tends to shift up as expected, leading to a large phase range exceeding 360° from 2.35 to 2.7 GHz. Finally, we choose 2.6 GHz as the working frequency due to the balance between the phase range and reflection loss.
Experimental results
To evaluate the performance of the proposed STCM, a sample with 8 × 8 elements was designed and manufactured using the standard printed circuit board (PCB) technology, as shown in Fig. 4e. The overall size of the sample is 385.35 × 153.25 mm. To simplify the feeding circuit of the metasurface, the diodes in the same column share identical biasing voltage, and thus the working states of these diodes can be controlled synchronously. The measured reflection coefficients under various bias voltages at 2.6 GHz are presented in Fig. 4d. We note that, as the biasing voltage grows gradually from 0 to 19 V, the reflection phase of the metasurface is continuously controlled in a range of nearly 520°, which is sufficient to meet the requirement of the spatial signal generation. The measured reflection loss is slightly larger than the simulated result but remains smaller than 2.5 dB as the biasing voltage changes. The fluctuation of the reflection amplitude is below 1.3 dB. The deviation between the simulated and measured results is primarily ascribed to the processing tolerance, deviations of material and diode parameters, and the finite size of the metasurface. Nevertheless, the manufactured STCM can be employed in subsequent experiments for generating the FMCW signals and manipulating the EM waves.
Firstly, we make experiments to generate several different types of FMCW signals using the fabricated STCM sample. The experimental configuration is illustrated in Fig. 4f. During experiments, the incident single-tone signal is generated by a microwave signal generator Agilent E8257D and radiated by a horn antenna to illuminate the metasurface at the normal direction. A control platform is used to provide arbitrarily periodic control signals, and these control signals can be converted to voltage waveforms to drive the metasurface for generating the required instantaneous phase curves. Through the procedure, STCM can reradiate the FMCW signals to free space. In the receiving part, a horn antenna is used for receiving the FMCW signals and transmitting them to a software-defined radio reconfigurable device (NI USRP-2943R, National Instruments Corp.), in which the FMCWs are down-converted to the baseband waveforms. Then the baseband waveform data are conveyed to a computer for postprocessing. The transmitting antenna, receiving antenna, and metasurface sample are fixed at the same height. All instruments are synchronized by phase stable cables to obtain stable waveform data. Based on the relationship between the voltage and phase in Fig. 4d, we can easily calculate the driving voltages of varactors to generate the periodic voltage waveforms. During the experiments, we adopt a high-resolution digital-to-analog converter (DAC) module and optimize the feeding circuit and meta-atom design to maintain the control signal integrity. We remark that if the demanded φ0(t)φ0(�) is out of the range from 0 to 2π2�, an extra integer multiple of 2π2� should be added or subtracted to keep φ0(t)φ0(�) staying in that interval.
In this experiment, two kinds of FMCWs—linear and sinusoidal—are generated with the fabricated sample. The period of the FMCW is set to 10 μs��. From Eq. (6) and (9) in Materials and methods, we choose φ0(t)=10π(tT)2φ0(�)=10�(��)2 and φ0(t)=5[sin(2πtT)+1]φ0(�)=5[sin(2���)+1] for the linear and sinusoidal FMCWs, respectively. The measured baseband waveforms in the two cases are illustrated in Fig. 5a and d, respectively, which display the normalized waveforms in ten periods. For better observation, we extract the waveforms in one period in Fig. 5b and e, and give the corresponding time-frequency curves (see Fig. 5c and f) by taking derivatives of the measured φ0(t)φ0(�) with respect to time. We clearly see that the generated FMCWs are consistent with the theoretical ones with high accuracy. There are small signal burrs as found in the time-frequency curves. They are probably attributed to the distortion of control waveforms, the environmental EM interference, and the sampling rate limitation of the receiver.
Fig. 5: Measured results of the linear and sinusoidal FMCWs.
a–c The measured baseband FMCW waveforms in ten periods (a) and one period (b), and the corresponding baseband time-frequency curve (c) for the linear FMCW. d–f The measured baseband FMCW waveforms in ten periods (d) and one period (e), and the corresponding baseband time-frequency curve (f) for the sinusoidal FMCW
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Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the capability of dynamic beam shaping for the FMCW signals using the STCM sample. The experimental configuration is the same as that in Fig. 4f, except that the measurement is carried out in the microwave chamber. The period of φ(t)φ(�) is also set as 10 μs. Since all eight columns of STCM are independently controlled, here we consider three FMCWs to deflect towards different angles in the horizontal direction: the polynomial FMCW with instantaneous phase φ0(t)=10π(tT)3φ0(�)=10�(��)3, double sinusoidal FMCW with φ0(t)=52[sin(2πtT)+sin(4πtT)+2]φ0(�)=52[sin(2���)+sin(4���)+2], and the S-shaped FMCW with φ0(t)=10π(tT)2+5sin(2πtT)φ0(�)=10�(��)2+5sin(2���). To realize the beam deflections, we adopt a 2-bit initial phase coding strategy and set four digits 0, 1, 2, 3 to represent the four initial phase values 0, π2�2, π, 3π23�2, respectively. Subsequently, we preset the initial phase gradients for different beam deflections as follows: (3,2,1,0,3,2,1,0), (0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0), and (0,1,2,3,0,1,2,3). According to Eq. (7), the corresponding deflection angles for the abovementioned three FMCW signals are −37.3°, 0°, and 37.3°, respectively. Both theoretically predicted scattering patterns and measured scattering patterns at 2.6 GHz are presented in Fig. 6a–c for comparison. It can be observed that there are small errors in the sidelobes, as can be attributed to the finite dynamic range of the receiver, and the phase errors of the meta-atom due to the slight controlling waveform distortion. Nevertheless, their general tendencies and intensity distributions are consistent, which proves the feasibility of dynamic beam shaping for the FMCW signals. The corresponding waveforms are plotted in Fig. 6d–f, respectively. We can see that the experimental results agree well with the calculation ones, validating the powerful capabilities of the proposed STCM for simultaneous FMCW waveform generations and beam shaping.
Fig. 6: Measured results of the polynomial, double sinusoidal, and S-shaped FMCWs.
a–c The calculated and measured scattering patterns in the space domain for the cases of polynomial, double sinusoidal, and S-shaped FMCWs. d–f The corresponding time-frequency curves for the waveforms in a–c
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Discussions
In this work, we propose a novel approach to produce various FMCW signals using the STCM under the excitation of a monochromatic wave and realize dynamic beam shaping of the FMCW signals in free space. The time-varying phase responses of STCM are employed to synthesize the frequency modulation waveforms, which can remove the complex frequency synthesizers in traditional RF systems. Furthermore, the proposed framework can be employed in the millimeter-wave and multi-polarized regions by combining the advanced antenna-array optimization methods63. The proposed methodology has the advantages of simple hardware architecture, easy integration, and low cost. These important properties make it promising to find applications in microwave and optical detections and measurements.
Materials and methods
Polynomial FMCW
When the time-frequency relationship of FMCW is a polynomial function, it is defined as the polynomial FMCW. Here we consider a kind of polynomial FMCW, whose time-frequency curve is a power function with the power index of n. According to Eq. (4), the condition Δφ=φ0(T)−φ0(0)=2mπΔφ=φ0(�)−φ0(0)=2�� should be satisfied. Hence the time-varying reflected phase φ0(t)φ0(�) of the STCM is designed as:
φ0(t)=(2mπT−2pπn+1Tn)t+2pπn+1tn+1,0≤t≤Tφ0(�)=(2���−2���+1��)�+2���+1��+1,0≤�≤�
(8)
in which T is the modulation period, and n and p are integers. The instantaneous frequency is f0(t)=fc+(mT−pn+1Tn)+ptn�0(�)=��+(��−��+1��)+���. We remark that the linear FMCW is a special case with n = 1. Figure 3a and b demonstrate the required phases φ0(t)φ0(�) and the baseband waveforms of the quadratic (n = 2, m = 5, and p = 15T315�3) and cubic (n = 3, m = 5, and p = 20T420�4) polynomial FMCWs.
Sinusoidal FMCW
When the instantaneous frequency is in a sinusoidal mode, it reaches sinusoidal FMCW. Based on Eq. (4), the phase φ0(t)φ0(�) can then be given by:
φ0(t)=2mπTt+Δf⋅Tn[sin(2nπTt)+1],0≤t≤Tφ0(�)=2����+Δ�⋅��[sin(2����)+1],0≤�≤�
(9)
In practical applications, the constant term in φ0(t)φ0(�) is used to ensure that the time-varying reflected phase of the STCM is always greater than 0. Then the instantaneous frequency is written as: f0(t)=fc+mT+Δfcos(2nπTt)�0(�)=��+��+Δ�cos(2����), in which ΔfΔ� is the modulation depth, and n and m are both integers. As a special case, when m = 0, the time-varying reflected phase of the STCM is also a sine function, and the initial frequency of FMCW is fc��. Figure 3c and d show the required phases φ0(t)φ0(�) and the baseband waveforms of the sinusoidal FMCW with n = 1, m = 0, Δf=5TΔ�=5� and n = 2, m = 0, Δf=5TΔ�=5�.
Similarly, for the double sinusoidal FMCW, we have f0(t)=fc+mT+Δf1cos(2nπTt)+Δf2cos(2knπTt)�0(�)=��+��+Δ�1cos(2����)+Δ�2cos(2�����), in which k is an integer, and Δf1Δ�1 and Δf2Δ�2 are the modulation depths of the two cosine functions. The corresponding phase of the STCM is defined as:
φ0(t)=2mπTt+Δf1⋅Tn[sin(2nπTt)+1]+Δf2⋅Tkn[sin(2knπTt)+1],0≤t≤Tφ0(�)=2����+Δ�1⋅��[sin(2����)+1]+Δ�2⋅���[sin(2�����)+1],0≤�≤�
(10)
Here we choose k = 2, n = 1, m = 0, Δf2=2Δf1=5TΔ�2=2Δ�1=5�. The corresponding φ0(t)φ0(�) and the baseband waveform are shown in Fig. 3e and f.
S-shaped FMCW
S-shaped FMCWs are also widely employed due to their advantages in pulse compression56. The S-shaped FMCW is a kind of FM signal whose time-frequency curve is S-shaped. It can be regarded as a weighted superposition of the linear FM signal and multiple sinusoidal FM signals with different FM rates57,58. Without loss of generality, we analyze the simplest case of S-shaped FMCW: the weighted superposition of a linear and a sinusoidal FM signal. The phase function φ0(t)φ0(�) of the S-shaped FMCW is given by:
φ0(t)=(2mπT−pπT)t+pπt2+Δf⋅Tnsin(2nπTt),0≤t≤Tφ0(�)=(2���−���)�+���2+Δ�⋅��sin(2����),0≤�≤�
(11)
and the instantaneous frequency is obtained as f0(t)=fc+(mT−pT2)+pt+Δfcos(2nπTt)�0(�)=��+(��−��2)+��+Δ�cos(2����). As an example, Fig. 3g and h exhibit the phase φ0(t)φ0(�) and the baseband waveform of the S-shaped FMCW with n = 1, m = 5, p = 10T210�2 and Δf=5TΔ�=5�.
Data availability
The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-83944816186004420672023-08-08T11:52:00.001+02:002023-08-08T11:52:22.241+02:00<p> <b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An analysis of Isaiah 62:6-7 - A psychology of religion approach</b></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;">Drs. Michael Gerhard Maerien</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Department of Neurolinguistical Sciences, University of Antwerp </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script%3Dsci_arttext%26pid%3DS2074-77052021000100039%23corresp&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw0lU2cswdq8b_CbPxUndolp" href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052021000100039#corresp" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Correspondence</a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><hr noshade="" size="1" style="font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.6px;" /><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>ABSTRACT</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This article argues that prayer does not only offer hope of restoration in the future but also presents a restoration of the supplicants. Isaiah 62:6-7 will be presented as a case study. The psychology of religion will be used as the methodology to achieve this goal: present restoration of the prayers in Isaiah 62:6-7.<br /><b>INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS:</b> This article combines exegetical insights from biblical studies and psychology of religion.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Keywords</b>: Book of Isaiah; prayer; exile and restoration; psychology of religion; mental health.</span></p><hr noshade="" size="1" style="font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.6px;" /><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Introduction</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Although the unity, the date(s) and the authorship(s) of the Book of Isaiah are disputable amongst scholars, the content of this book is incontestable. Its content covers at least three main problems of Israelites. The first challenge is a spiritual decline of Israelites. It is caused by other nations and idolatries (Isaiah 40:18-20; 44:9-20) (Davies 2000:95-96).<sup><a name="m_2958071399035884078_top_fn1" style="color: #222222;"></a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script%3Dsci_arttext%26pid%3DS2074-77052021000100039%23back_fn1&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw2-O8OG4iV8THsDISo9m-GI" href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052021000100039#back_fn1" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">1</a></sup> The second dilemma is social injustice. Around 810 up to 750 BC, Judah took pleasure in peace and prosperity, both economic and military expansion, they had not known since the time of king Solomon (Oswalt 1986:5). Nevertheless, these benefits were enjoyed by the higher class only. The taxation and exploitation of the trade routes from north to south through the land bridge of Palestine have caused rapid economic growth but for the wealthy class. The poor, widows and orphans were exploited and abused (3:14-15). Oppression goes right to the heart of Israelite society. The third problem is political turmoil. During Isaiah's ministry, it was a time of great political turmoil for the nation of Judah because facing the opposition coming from the north and east (Oswalt 1986:5).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In the midst of these challenges, Isaiah encourages Israelites to take no rest to remind God through their prayers. In Isaiah 62:6-7, Isaiah encourages the readers to pray unceasingly and reveals the <i>future</i> reason of this prayer in verse 7. This article will use the psychology of religion to identify and clarify what implied reasons when restated in the religious-psychological language of the chosen interdisciplinary perspective.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Methods</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In this section, the prayer in Isaiah 62:6-7 will be examined through the lens of psychology of religion. The psychology of religion is a general scientific psychology whose goal is the understanding of the processes that mediate human religiousness in all its variations (Emmons & Paloutzian 2003:377-402). One of the main purposes of psychology of religion is to describe religious experiences, expressions and attitude (Wulff 2010:732-735). There are two methodological principles of the psychology of religion. The first methodology is called as <i>principle of the exclusion of the Transcendent</i>. It states that the psychology of religion should neither confirm nor deny the existence of God as the object of religious experience and reflection. However, the experience with God could not be excluded; rather such experience should be observed carefully (Flournoy 1902:327-366). The second methodology is the <i>principle of biological interpretation</i> that focuses on physiological conditions of its object of study and the developmental perspective, which gives attention to hereditary and environmental factors of the object (Flournoy 1902:327-366). This article will employ the second methodology, 'principle of biological interpretation', for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Isaiah 62:6-7 is the case study of this article. Contextually, Isaiah 62 declares God's future restoration. Thus, Isaiah 62:6-7 assumes the existence of God as the object of religious experience and reflection. Secondly, the primary goal of this research is to argue for the present restorations as the benefits of prayer, which are stated implicitly in the text but could be explored through the psychology of religion. For instance, Martha Rubinart, Albert Fornieles and John Deus explored the psychological impact of two months of prayers. They researched on Jesus' prayer amongst a sample taken from a community of middle-aged Catholics in Spain. They gathered quantitative data on psychological symptoms with the Revised Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90-R) and on personality traits with the Revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) at three different times: baseline, post-intervention and five months after the two-month intervention. Their research showed lower scores on interpersonal sensitivity (<i>p</i> = 0.009) and phobic anxiety (<i>p</i> = 0.03) psychological symptoms after the two-month intervention. Furthermore, the data also demonstrate lower scores and strong effect sizes on tension (<i>p</i> = 0.03, <i>d</i> = 1.029) and fatigue (<i>p</i> = 0.001, <i>d</i> = 1.390) after 25-minute intervention. The short-term result is that the prayer deeply reduces participants' states of anxiety, depression, confusion, anger and fatigue (Rubinart, Fornieles & Deus 2017:487-504).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Psychologies have proved the benefits of prayers through the psychology of religion. Dangel and Webb's research (2017:246-259) discovered that the supplicants may benefit from spirituality. The supplicants who experience high distressing level could reduce their emotional pain through meditation. Prayer also helps the supplicants to find creative or new outlets for establishing a greater sense of connection to others. In short, meditation has therapeutic benefits in personal and social levels.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Maltby, Lewis and Day (2008:119-129) uncovered the connection between prayer and subjective well-being. They used a cognitive-behavioral framework. The research reveals although ritual prayer, meditative prayer, prayer experience and praying with others were significantly correlated with subjective well-being, only meditative prayer, frequency of prayer and prayer experience accounted for unique variance in subjective well-being.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ranaie, Zaheri and Ardalan (2009:678) found that regular prayer helps people recover from depression. Harris, Schoneman and Carrera (2002:253-265) affirmed that prayer will help the supplicant heal from mental illness, anxiety and stress. Kirk and Lewis (2013:1030-1043) added that people who consistently engaged in prayer were found to have higher levels of life satisfaction and purpose of life. The supplicants demonstrated a more positive attitude towards life and positive mental health (Robbins, Francis & Edwards 2008:93-99). Koenig, King and Carson (2012:174-190) found that prayer reduces the potential of suicidal behavior. Thus, the research in psychology of religion reveals that prayer benefits the supplicants physically, mentally, psychologically and socially.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Analysis of Isaiah 62</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Isaiah depicts a fabulous picture of redemption, both for Israel and the other nations. House (1998:295) stated just as two kinds of Israel: servant or remnant and unbelievers; thus, Isaiah presents two types of nations: the servants of Zion (Is 60:10-11) and rebellious nations that are punished (Is 60:12-14). As Zion is the central location of this redemption, the glorious hope of Zion is the primary topic of Isaiah in these chapters. Specifically, Isaiah 62:1-12 describes God's restorations (Chia & Juanda 2019:57-66) and assurances (Chia & Juanda 2020:37-43). Although the people of God live in the darkness, God promised future restorations. These restorations include the returning of their children, wealth and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Is 60-62). These promises, however, bring out an ambiguity of the reality of these restorations' applications because Judah is ruled by a powerful empire historically (Goldingay 2014:79). To resolve this ambiguity, Isaiah has placed the watchmen on Jerusalem's walls (Is 62:6-7). In terms of time, Isaiah informs that they will never be silent day or night. In terms of duty, they will remind the Lord of his promises to Jerusalem. They will not rest until God fulfils his promises (Quinn-Miscall 2006:170).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Analysis of Isaiah 62:6-7</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Although the Israelites have multi-layers of problems spiritually, socially and politically, Isaiah encourages Israelites to pray until God establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (62:6-7). Isaiah 62:6-7 is joined with 62:1-5 by repetition of the refusal to be silent. Verse 62:1 started with a declaration from God that he will not keep silent for Zion's sake, and he will not keep quiet for Jerusalem's sake. Although the subject of verse six is different, this verse is also begun with the same intonation: they will never keep silent.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Blenkinsopp (2003:238) and Westermann (1969:373) provide the parallelism between verse 1 and verses 6-7 (<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script%3Dsci_arttext%26pid%3DS2074-77052021000100039%23t1&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw21ghjevt3cQGos4Rc_M2k9" href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052021000100039#t1" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Box 1</a>).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><a name="m_2958071399035884078_t1" style="color: #222222;"></a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><img class="CToWUd a6T" data-bit="iit" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj5LKSZr-AGvJso5k3S2Pl5l-9Imp0MiOPYGnzsJ2i37IvsTBMRnyh-sYKKkQChN7Krhr0knSES7-qxZ_Cjo6OVBx0pJN2JzQUPrckoRkE3lTz4xWbv1mExD4KF_IEicuIczID82kiicm06i-_td_f85g4jgMOfy-o=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px;" tabindex="0" /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In 62:6, God has appointed watchmen upon Jerusalem's walls that it may receive the utmost in protection. Their primary duty is the lookout on the city wall or tower (Jdg 7:19; Jr 51:12; Ps 127:1). The term 'watchmen' also signifies the bodyguard responsible for protecting the person of the ruler (1 Sm 28:2), a palace guard (2 Ki 11:5), a military scout (Jdg 1:24), or the keeper of the royal wardrobe (2 Ki 22:14). The term can be used for temple personnel, principally Levites (Nm 3:21; Ezk 44:14) and the priest-guardians of the threshold (2 Ki 12:10; 22:4). These watchmen on Jerusalem's walls are further described in the second half of the verse 6 as those who remind the Lord. The Hebrew word <i>mazkirim</i> also means that these watchmen keep 'putting God in remembrance'. When God remembers, it does not mean he has forgotten. It is a way of saying he goes into action and does something about the situation. These watchmen will not stop calling on God to act until he fulfills his promise to make Jerusalem 'the praise of the earth' (Horton 2000:443). The participle of the Hebrew word <i>mazkirim</i> expresses the thought of calling something to God's attention, engaging in unceasing prayer. The Hebrew word <i>mazkirim</i> is used for officers who write and persevere of the official records (2 Sm 8:16; 20:24; 1 Ki 4:3; 2 Ki 8:18, 37; Is 36:3, 22). The term could be translated somewhat literally as 'remembrancer' and if we are to believe Herodotus, the Persian king Darius I had a servant whose task was to keep repeating to him, after the disastrous defeat at Marathon, 'Master, remember the Athenians'. We might then say that the 'remembrancer' of 62:6 is performing the standard prophetic task of intercession, following the example of Abraham and Moses as paradigmatic prophetic figures (Gn 20:7; Ex 5:22-23; 8:8; 32:11-14). Therefore, the term <i>mazkirim</i> communicates the duty of these watchmen is to make continuous prayers for the arrival of their salvation. This unstoppable prayer is reiterated by the last clause, 'let there be no cessation to you' (Westermann 1969:478). Verses 6 and 7 are related. In verse 7, Isaiah explains more of the purpose and the time of the watchers: they will not give him a rest, and they will offer their prayer continually until two things happen, which is denoted by two prepositions <i>ad</i>. Firstly, their intercessory prayer will not give rest to Yahweh until he fulfills his promises regarding Zion in Chapter 60. Secondly, the time of their ministry will not stop until Jerusalem has been divinely transformed into the city that evokes praise from the whole earth for what Yahweh has done. In short, not only there will be no cessation to the ones who pray fervently, but also they are not to give cessation to God until he has made Jerusalem as the praise on the earth (Young 1972:471). This reminds us that the final words of verse 1, 'until her salvation goes forth as brightness', are equalled in verse 7b 'until he establishes Jerusalem a praise in the earth'. The same ending is communicated in both verses. And therefore it is to be assumed that the final part of the poem, verse 1, follows directly on verse 6 (Westermann 1969).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One of the Greek revisers, Symmachus, translates, 'do not be silent and do not let him be silent until he prepares and makes Jerusalem to sing on the earth'. Symmachus believes that Holy Spirit encourages and exhorts the Israelites to continue in these prayers. People's intercession should not be quiet and ever cease, but they should pray with shouts and cries to God. Their supplication should never give God peace (Elliott & Oden 2007:247). Another Greek reviser, Aquila, reads these verses as the people of God will not be able to silent and to keep quiet; rather, it is a must for them to cry aloud day and night and to devote themselves to prayers and petitions until the righteousness of Jerusalem and its restoration shall shine forth like light to all nations (Eusebius 2013:300).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In summary, Isaiah 62:6-7 urges the people of God to pray fervently not to allow God rest but awaken him with relentless cries so that God should keep the promises to the end (Eusebius 2013:301).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Implications from the psychology of religion</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Isaiah 62:6-7 reveals that their prayers are related to their hope for restoration. This future hope will grant them resilience and relentless cries to their current tribulation time. Their prayer will also enable them to have a satisfactory life although social injustice surrounded them because prayer brings out a more positive attitude and mental health during their hardships. The prayer does not change their external situation but changes their internal situation. Greek reviser in late 2nd century AD, Symmachus, believes that this prayer encourages and enables the Israelites to persevere in the midst of social injustice around them (Elliott & Oden 2007:247). Another Greek reviser in 140 AD, Aquila, believes that instruction to pray in Isaiah 62:6-7 is a must for them to cry aloud day and night and to devote themselves to prayers and petitions because this devoted prayer will grant them resilience and relentless attitude towards God until the righteousness of Jerusalem and its restoration shall shine forth like light to all nations (Eusebius 2013:300).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As Baker confirms, the psychological benefits of people who experience physical, economical and emotional pain, are more likely to offer prayer in an effort to gain supernatural favor and good standing with the divine. In other words, social factors will play a fundamental role in determining how communication with God manifests itself by influencing people to pray and the need prayer addresses (Baker 2008:169-185).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The historical background of the book of Isaiah reveals multi-layered problems: spiritual, social and political tribulations. These afflictions generate the desire in people to call out to a higher power as it is mentioned in Isaiah 62:6-7. The field of psychology of religion has proved that supplication will provide some psychological benefits to the supplicants. As Koonz (2012:146-154) states, prayer is a conversation in a relationship where the supplicants can honestly speak to and attentively listen to the living God with possibilities of healing, comfort, hope and transformation. Thus, the psychology of religion contributes to Isaiah 62:6-7 that their prayer would grant them resilience, satisfaction and a more positive life to face their multi-layers of problems.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Acknowledgements</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Competing interests</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Author's contributions</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">P.S.C. is the sole author of this research article.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Ethical considerations</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Funding information</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Data availability</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Disclaimer</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>References</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Baker, J.O., 2008, 'An investigation of the sociological patterns of prayer frequency and content', <i>Sociology of Religion</i> 69(2), 169-185. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/69.2.169&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw0gKaH1CqS1TTEGXqAqwgGM" href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/69.2.169" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.<wbr></wbr>1093/socrel/69.2.169</a></span> [ <a style="color: #222222;"><wbr></wbr>Links</a> ]</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Blenkinsopp, J., 2003, <i>Isaiah 56-66: A new translation with introduction and commentary</i>, The Anchor Bible, New York, NY. 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The new international commentary on the Old Testament</i>, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI. [ <a style="color: #222222;">Links</a> ]</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oswalt, J.N., 1998, <i>The book of Isaiah, chapter 40-66</i>, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. [ <a style="color: #222222;">Links</a> ]</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Quinn-Miscall, P.D., 2006, <i>Isaiah</i>, 2nd edn., Sheffield Phoenix Press, (Readings, a new biblical commentary), Sheffield. 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[ <a style="color: #222222;">Links</a> ]</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wulff, D.M., 2010, 'Psychology of religion', in D.A. Leeming, K. Madden & S. Marian (eds.), <i>Encyclopedia of psychology and religion</i>, pp. 732-735, Springer, New York, NY. [ <a style="color: #222222;">Links</a> ]</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Young, E.J., 1972, <i>The book of Isaiah 40-66</i>, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. [ <a style="color: #222222;">Links</a> ]</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script%3Dsci_arttext%26pid%3DS2074-77052021000100039%23top&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw1bfLDhbign5WlVw9Lmve_G" href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052021000100039#top" name="m_2958071399035884078_corresp" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><img border="0" class="CToWUd" data-bit="iit" jslog="138226; u014N:xr6bB; 53:WzAsMl0." src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgf-Q7SPRGvhL2_l80JcgqPhRbYJFfnQgvatews8tJMRdkHYRzDIG-5SOB_XCUnD4_IC5GmzMFtJcp7NFT6XVhZAIrx_FAaaBkqnhKIbLB7OM_Ao5iJbK2UOXPt6iUrYObGmbnONhSoUhJnJgVeL1aSnMf3JLsJG2s=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px;" /></a> <b>Correspondence</b>:<br />Philip Suciadi Chia<br /><a href="mailto:philipsuciadichia@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">philipsuciadichia@gmail.com</a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Received: 15 Jan. 2021<br />Accepted: 03 June 2021<br />Published: 22 July 2021</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 13.192px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a name="m_2958071399035884078_back_fn1" style="color: #222222;"></a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script%3Dsci_arttext%26pid%3DS2074-77052021000100039%23top_fn1&source=gmail&ust=1691572641475000&usg=AOvVaw0A3YLHdxu1pTZxO4-UOBfz" href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052021000100039#top_fn1" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">1</a> . The idol passages are particularly noteworthy. Idolatry and its dangers are a continuing interest of the whole book. Amongst other things, this is evidenced by the large number of different words used in Isaiah to denote idols. There are nine terms that Isaiah uses to describe idolatry. <i>Elil</i> occurs eight times (2:8, 18, 20; 10:10, 11; 19:1, 3; 31:7) and Isaiah employs this word for idol. <i>Atsav</i> and <i>otsev</i>, both also mean idols, occur three times in 10:11, 46:1 and 48:5 and a further synonym, <i>aven,</i> is found in 66:3. In addition, there are words which describe specific forms of image such as <i>pasil</i> (four times, in 10:10; 21:9; 30:22; 42:8), and its cognate <i>pesel</i> (the most commonly occurring of these words in Isaiah, appearing nine times, all in 40-55, 40:19, 20; 42:17 44:9, 10, 15, 17; 45:20; 48:5), which both mean 'graven image', and two words for 'molten image', <i>masekah</i> (30:22 and 42:17) and <i>nesek</i> (41:29 and 48:5). Furthermore, the root <i>chmd</i>, meaning 'desire', and hence 'object of desire', is used in the context of pagan worship in 1:29 and 44:9, and <i>elohim</i> is used in its plural sense, 'gods', in eight verses (21:9; 36:18, 19, 20; 37:12, 19 [twice]; 41:23 and 42:17).</span></p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-54784644959599911132008-06-18T14:03:00.000+02:002008-06-18T14:04:55.370+02:00The Linguistic Relativity HypothesisMany linguists, including Noam Chomsky, contend that language in the sense we ordinary think of it, in the sense that people in Germany speak German, is a historical or social or political notion, rather than a scientific one. For example, German and Dutch are much closer to one another than various dialects of Chinese are. But the rough, commonsense divisions between languages will suffice for our purposes.<br /><br />There are around 5000 languages in use today, and each is quite different from many of the others. Differences are especially pronounced between languages of different families, e.g., between Indo-European languages like English and Hindi and Ancient Greek, on the one hand, and non-Indo-European languages like Hopi and Chinese and Swahili, on the other.<br /><br />Many thinkers have urged that large differences in language lead to large differences in experience and thought. They hold that each language embodies a worldview, with quite different languages embodying quite different views, so that speakers of different languages think about the world in quite different ways. This view is sometimes called the Whorf-hypothesis or the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, after the linguists who made if famous. But the label linguistic relativity, which is more common today, has the advantage that makes it easier to separate the hypothesis from the details of Whorf's views, which are an endless subject of exegetical dispute (Gumperz and Levinson, 1996, contains a sampling of recent literature on the hypothesis).<br /><br />The suggestion that different languages carve the world up in different ways, and that as a result their speakers think about it differently has a certain appeal. But questions about the extent and kind of impact that language has on thought are empirical questions that can only be settled by empirical investigation. And although linguistic relativism is perhaps the most popular version of descriptive relativism, the conviction and passion of partisans on both sides of the issue far outrun the available evidence. As usual in discussions of relativism, it is important to resist all-or-none thinking. The key question is whether there are interesting and defensible versions of linguistic relativism between those that are trivially true (the Babylonians didn't have a counterpart of the word ‘telephone’, so they didn't think about telephones) and those that are dramatic but almost certainly false (those who speak different languages see the world in completely different ways).<br />A Preliminary Statement of the Hypothesis<br /><br />Interesting versions of the linguistic relativity hypothesis embody two claims:<br /><br /> Linguistic Diversity:<br /> Languages, especially members of quite different language families, differ in important ways from one another.<br /><br /> Linguistic Influence on Thought:<br /> The structure and lexicon of one's language influences how one perceives and conceptualizes the world, and they do so in a systematic way.<br /><br />Together these two claims suggest that speakers of quite different languages think about the world in quite different ways. There is a clear sense in which the thesis of linguistic diversity is uncontroversial. Even if all human languages share many underlying, abstract linguistic universals, there are often large differences in their syntactic structures and in their lexicons. The second claim is more controversial, but since linguistic forces could shape thought in varying degrees, it comes in more and less plausible forms.<br />1. History of the Hypothesis<br /><br />Like many other relativistic themes, the hypothesis of linguistic relativity became a serious topic of discussion in late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century Germany, particularly in the work of Johann Georg Hamann (1730-88), Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), and Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835). It was later defended by thinkers as diverse as Ernst Cassirer and Peter Winch. Thus Cassirer tells us that<br /><br /> ...the distinctions which here are taken for granted, the analysis of reality in terms of things and processes, permanent and transitory aspects, objects and actions, do not precede language as a substratum of given fact, but that language itself is what initiates such articulations, and develops them in its own sphere (1946, p. 12).<br /><br />But the hypothesis came to prominence though the work of Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Lee Whorf. Indeed, it is often called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or simply the Whorf hypothesis.<br /><br />There are connections among some of these writers; for example, Sapir wrote his M.A. thesis on Herder's Origin of Language. Still, this is a remarkably diverse group of thinkers who often arrived at their views by different routes, and so it is not surprising that the linguistic relativity hypothesis comes in a variety of forms.<br />Sapir and Whorf<br /><br />It will help to see why the linguistic relativity hypothesis captivated so many thinkers if we briefly consider the more arresting claims of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. Sapir was an American anthropological linguist who, like so many anthropologists of his day, was a student of Franz Boas. He was also the teacher of Whorf, a businessman and amateur linguist.<br /><br />Unlike earlier partisans of linguistic relativism, Sapir and Whorf based their claims on first-hand experience of the cultures and languages they described, which gave their accounts a good deal of immediacy. I will quote a few of the purpler passages to convey the flavor of their claims, for this was partly what galvanized the imagination of so many readers.<br />Sapir<br />In a paper published in 1929 Sapir tells us:<br /><br /> Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection (1929, p. 209).<br /><br />Our language affects how we perceive things:<br /><br /> Even comparatively simple acts of perception are very much more at the mercy of the social patterns called words than we might suppose. …We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation (p. 210).<br /><br />But the differences don't end with perception:<br /><br /> The fact of the matter is that the ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same worlds with different labels attached (p. 209).<br /><br />Whorf<br />The linguistic relativity hypothesis grained its widest audience through the work of Benjamin Lee Whorf, whose collected writings became something of a relativistic manifesto.<br /><br />Whorf presents a moving target, with most of his claims coming in both extreme and in more cautious forms. Debate continues about his considered views, but there is little doubt that his bolder claims, unimpeded by caveats or qualifications, were better suited to captivate his readers than more timid claims would have been.<br /><br />When languages are similar, Whorf tells us, there is little likelihood of dramatic cognitive differences. But languages that differ markedly from English and other Western European languages (which Whorf calls, collectively, “Standard Average European” or SAE) often do lead their speakers to have very different worldviews. Thus<br /><br /> We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity, which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated. …The relativity of all conceptual systems, ours included, and their dependence upon language stand revealed (1956, p. 214f, italics added).<br /><br /> We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds (p. 213).<br /><br /> …no individual is free to describe nature with absolute impartiality but is constrained to certain modes of interpretation even while he thinks himself most free (p. 214).<br /><br />In fairness it must be stressed that these passages come from a single essay, “Science and Linguistics,” of 1940, and in other places Whorf's tone is often more measured. But not always; elsewhere he also says thing like<br /><br /> …users of markedly different grammars are pointed by their grammars toward different types of observations and different evaluations of externally similar acts of observation, and hence are not equivalent as observers but must arrive at somewhat different views of the world (1956, p. 221).<br /><br />And in yet a third essay “facts are unlike to speakers whose language background provides for unlike formulation of them” (1956, p. 235).<br /><br />The passages from Sapir and Whorf bristle with metaphors of coercion: our thought is “at the mercy” of our language, it is “constrained” by it; no one is free to describe the world in a neutral way; we are “compelled” to read certain features into the world (p. 262). The view that language completely determines how we think is often called linguistic determinism. Hamann and Herder sometimes seem to equate language with thought, and in these moods, at least, they came close to endorsing this view.<br />1.1 Linguistic Relativism and Metaphysics<br /><br />Some writers have linked these themes directly to issues in metaphysics. For example Graham (1989, Appendix 2) argues that there are vast differences among human languages and that many of the concepts or categories (e.g., physical object, causation, quantity) writers like Aristotle and Kant and Strawson held were central, even indispensable, to human thought, are nothing more than parochial shadows cast by the structure of Indo-European languages. These notions, it is said, have no counterparts in many non-Indo-European languages like Chinese. If this is so, then a fairly strong version of the linguistic relativity hypothesis might be true, but the thesis hasn't been backed with strong empirical evidence and the most common views today lie at the opposite end of the spectrum. Indeed, Whorf himself held a similar view:<br /><br /> [Western] Science …has not yet freed itself from the illusory necessities of common logic which are only at bottom necessities of grammatical pattern in Western Aryan grammar; [e.g.,] necessities for substances which are only necessities for substantives in certain sentence positions …(1956, pp. 269-270).<br /><br />It is worth noting, finally, that although Whorf was certainly a descriptive relativist he was not a normative relativist. He believed that some languages gave rise to more accurate worldviews than others. Indeed, he thought that the Hopi worldview was superior in various ways to that of speakers of Indo-European languages (e.g., 1956, p. 55, p. 262).<br />2. The Many Versions of Linguistic Relativism<br /><br />Any serious discussion of the linguistic relativity hypothesis requires us to answer three questions<br /><br /> 1. Which aspects of language influence which aspects of thought in some systematic way?<br /> 2. What form does that influence take?<br /> 3. How strong is that influence?<br /><br />For example, certain features of syntax or of the lexicon might exert a causal influence on certain aspects of visual perception (e.g., on which colors we can discriminate), classification (e.g., on how we sort things by their color), or long-term memory (e.g., on which differences among colors we remember most accurately) in clearly specifiable ways. If there is such an influence we would also like to know what mechanisms mediate it, but until we have clearer answers to the first three questions, we are not well positioned to answer this.<br /><br />Human languages are flexible and extensible, so most things that can be said in one can be approximated in another; if nothing else, words and phrases can be borrowed (Schadenfreude, je ne sais quoi). But what is easy to say in one language may be harder to say in a second, and this may make it easier or more natural or more common for speakers of the first language to think in a certain way than for speakers of the second language to do so. A concept or category may be more available in some linguistic communities than in others (e.g., Brown, 1956, pp. 307ff). In short, the linguistic relativity hypothesis comes in stronger and weaker forms, depending on the hypothesized forms and the hypothesized strength of the hypothesized influence.<br />Language<br /><br />Various aspects of language might affect cognition.<br /><br /> Grammar<br /> Languages can differ in their grammar or syntax. To take a simple example, typical word order may vary. In English, the common order is subject, verb, object. In Japanese it is subject, object, verb. In Welsh, verb, subject, object. Languages can differ in whether they make a distinction between intransitive verbs and adjectives. And there are many subtler sorts of grammatical difference as well. It should be noted that grammar here does not mean the prescriptive grammar we learned in grammar school, but the syntactic structure of a language; in this sense, a grammar comprises a set of rules (or some equivalent device) that can generate all and only the sentences of a given language.<br /><br /> Lexicon<br /> Different languages have different lexicons (vocabularies), but the important point here is that the lexicons of different languages may classify things in different ways. For example, the color lexicons of some languages segment the color spectrum at different places.<br /><br /> Semantics<br /> Different languages have different semantic features (over and above differences in lexical semantics)<br /><br /> Metaphor<br /> Different languages employ different metaphors or employ them in different ways.<br /><br /> Pragmatics<br /> It is increasingly clear that context plays a vital role in the use and understanding of language, and it is possible that differences in the way speakers of different languages use their languages in concrete settings affects their mental life.<br /><br />For the most part discussions of the linguistic relativity hypothesis have focused on grammar and lexicon as independent variables. Thus, many of Whorf's claims, e.g., his claims about the way Hopi thought about time, were based on (what he took to be) large-scale differences between Hopi and Standard Average European that included grammatical and lexical differences (e.g., 1956, p. 158). Subsequence research by Ekkehart Malotki (e.g., 1983) and others suggests that Whorf's more dramatic claims were false, but the important point here is that the most prominent versions of the linguistic relativity hypothesis involved large-scale features of language.<br />Thought<br />Language might influence many different aspects of thought. Most empirical work has focused, appropriately enough, on those aspects that are easiest to assess without relying on language. This is important, since we otherwise risk finding influences of one aspect of language on some related aspect of language, rather than on some aspect of thought. Commonly studied cognitive variables include perceptual discrimination, availability in memory, and classification.<br />2.1 Testing the Linguistic Relativity Hypotheses<br /><br />In light of the vast literature on linguistic relativity hypotheses, one would expect that a good deal of careful experimental work had been done on the topic. It hasn't. Often the only evidence cited in favor of such hypotheses is to point to a difference between two languages and assert that it adds up to a difference in modes of thought. But this simply assumes what needs to be shown, namely that such linguistic differences give rise to cognitive differences. On the other hand, refutations of the hypothesis often target implausibly extreme versions of it or proceed as though refutations of it in one domain (e.g., color language and color cognition) show that it is false across the board.<br />2.2 Many Versions of the Hypothesis have not been Tested<br /><br />A linguistic relativity hypothesis says that some particular aspect of language influences some particular aspect of cognition. Many different aspects of language could, for all we know, influence many different aspects of cognition. This means that a study showing that some particular aspect of language (e.g., the color lexicon of a language) does (or does not) influence some particular aspect of cognition (e.g., recognition memory of colors) does not tell us whether other aspects of language (e.g., the lexicon for spatial relations) influence other aspects of cognition (e.g., spatial reasoning). It does not even tell us whether the single aspect of language we focused on affects any aspects of thought besides the one we studied, or whether other aspects of language influence the single aspect of thought we examined.<br /><br />The point here is not merely a theoretical one. When the mind is seen as all of a piece, whether it's the result of stepping through Piaget's universal stages of development, the output of universal learning mechanisms, or the operation of a general-purpose computer, confirming or disconfirming the hypothesis in one area (e.g., color) might bear on its status in other areas. But there is increasing evidence that the mind is, to at least some degree, modular, with different cognitive modules doing domain specific work (e.g., parsing syntax, recognizing faces) and processing different kinds of information in different kinds of ways. If this is right, there is less reason to expect that findings about the influence of language on one aspect of cognition will generalize to other aspects.<br />The Upshot<br /><br />Only a handful of versions of the claim that linguistic feature X influences cognitive feature Y in way Z have ever been tested. Some can doubtless be ruled out on the basis of common sense knowledge or previous investigation. But many remain that have yet to be studied. Moreover, those that have been studied often have not been studied with the care they deserve. A few have, though, and we will now turn to them.<br />Example: Color Language and Color Cognition<br /><br />Much of the most rigorous investigation of the linguistic relativity hypothesis involves color language and color cognition. In the 1950s and 60s, this was an area where linguistic relativity seemed quite plausible. On the one hand, there is nothing in the physics of light (e.g., in facts about surface spectral reflectances) that suggests drawing boundaries between colors at one place rather than another; in this sense our segmentations of the spectrum are arbitrary. On the one hand, it was well known that different languages had color terms that segmented the color spectrum at different places. So since nothing in the physics of color could determine how humans thought about color, it seemed natural to hypothesis that color cognition followed the grooves laid down by color language.<br /><br />Color was also an auspicious object of study, because investigators could use Munsell color chips (a widely used, standardized set of chips of different colors) or similar stimulus materials with subjects in quite different locations, thus assuring that whatever differences they found in their dependent variables really did involve the same thing, color (as anchored in the chips), rather than something more nebulous.<br /><br />Brent Berlin and Paul Kay's work (1969) on basic color terms did much to raise the quality of empirical work on the linguistic relativity hypothesis. And together with much subsequent work it strongly suggests that the strongest, across-the-board versions of the linguistic relativity hypothesis are false when it comes to color language and color cognition. We now know that colors may be a rather special case, however, for although there is nothing in the physics of color that suggests particular segmentations of the spectrum, the opponent-process theory of color vision, now well confirmed, tells us that there are neurophysiological facts about human beings that influence many of the ways in which we perceive colors. We don't know of anything comparable innate mechanisms that would channel thought about social traits or biological classification of diseases in similarly deep grooves. There may well be cross-cultural similarities in the ways human beings think about these things, but we can't conclude this from the work on color.<br />3. Innateness and Linguistic Universals<br /><br />The linguist Noam Chomsky has argued for almost half a century that human beings could only learn natural languages if they had a good deal of innate linguistic equipment to guide their way. He has characterized this equipment in different ways over the years, but the abiding theme is that without it children could never get from the sparse set of utterances they hear to the rich linguistic ability they achieve.<br />3.1 Poverty of the Stimulus Arguments<br /><br />In just a few years all normal children acquire the language that is spoken by their family and others around them. They acquire a very complex and virtually unbounded ability to distinguish sentences from non-sentences and to understand and utter a virtually unlimited number of sentences they have never thought of before. The child acquires this ability on the basis of the utterances she hears and the feedback (rarely in the form of corrections) she receives. The problem is that the child's data here are very unsystematic and sparse compared to the systematic and nearly unbounded linguistic competence the child quickly acquires.<br /><br />Hence, the argument continues, the child needs help to get from this impoverished input to the rich output (the acquisition of a grammar of a complex natural language), and this help can only be provided by something innate that constrains and guides the child in her construction of the grammar. The point is quite general: if the input, or data stream, is exiguous then (barring incredible luck) it is only possible for someone to arrive at the right theory about the data if they have some built-in inductive biases, some predispositions to form one kind of theory rather than another. And since any child can learn any human language, the innate endowment must put constraints on which of the countless logically possible languages are humanly possible.<br /><br />If the features of human languages are limited by such innate, language-acquisition mechanisms, there is less scope for the large differences among languages that the more extreme linguistic relativists have imagined. But might linguistic universals leave room for less extreme versions of linguistic relativism that are still interesting? That depends on what linguistic devices there are and on their relationships to other cognitive mechanisms.<br />3.2 Modularity<br /><br />From the perspective of nativist accounts of language, many of the questions about linguistic relativity boil down to questions about the informational encapsulation of mental modules. To say that a module is encapsulated means that other parts of the mind cannot influence its inner workings (though they can supply it with inputs and use its outputs). What are the implications of this for the linguistic relativist's claim that a person's language can exert a dramatic influence on his perception and thought?<br /><br />The answer may be different for perception, on the one hand, and the higher mental processes, on the other. For example Jerry Fodor (1984) argues that there is a module (or modules) for visual perception and that information from other parts of the mind cannot influence it in the way that many psychologists have supposed. For example, even though I know that the two lines in the Müller-Lyer illusion<br /><br /> missing text, please inform<br /> Müller-Lyer Illusion<br /><br />are the same length, I cannot help seeing the line on the left as longer than the line on the right. I know the lengths are the same, but my visual module (or models) does not. It is encapsulated; this information can't get through to it, so it can't influence how I see the figure. If this is so, then linguistic information could not penetrate any vision modules, and so versions of linguistic relativism which hold (as most do) that our language can influence how we see things is wrong.<br /><br />By contrast, Fodor holds that there is no special module for higher mental processes and, indeed, that we are a long way from having any account of how thinking and reasoning work (e.g., 2000). If this is right, then for all we know now, some aspects of linguistic relativism could be right. The workings of various linguistic modules might influence thought in interesting ways.<br /><br />It bears stressing that many of the issues involving cognitive architecture are vigorously contested. Among other things, not all champions of modules see them as Fodor does. According to them what is special about visual modules may just be that they process visual information, not that they lack access to other kinds of information (indeed, top-down aspects of perception suggest that they often do have such access). If this is so, there is more room for language to influence perception and other cognitive processes than there is if modules are tightly insulated.<br /><br />The dust here hasn't begun to settle, but one general moral is clear. If at least moderately strong nativist and modular views of the mind are on the right track--and there is now certainly some reason to think that they are--then many of the empirical issues about linguistic relativity will translate into issues concerning the ways in which various modules can influence one another.<br />4. Morals for other Independent Variables: Modularity and Encapsulation<br /><br />We have gone into detail about the linguistic relativity hypothesis, because the main lessons here carry over to the study of the impact of other variables, e.g., culture, on cognition. Some of these emerged above; others are obvious once they are noted. They are<br /><br /> 1. Questions about the impact of a variable on cognition are empirical and causal questions.<br /> 2. Such questions can only be answered with care once we specify which aspects of an independent variable, say culture, influence which aspects of thought and what form that influence takes.<br /> 3. Such hypotheses can vary greatly in specificity, strength, and scope.<br /> 4. Testing a specific version of the hypothesis requires a combination of skills, including those of a good ethnographer, linguist, and experimental psychologist.<br /> 5. A comparison of more than two cultures is needed to draw any firm conclusions.<br /> 6. The truth of specific hypotheses may turn on issues involving the modularity of mind and the degree of modular encapsulation.<br /> 7. If the mind is highly modular, finding an influence of one aspect of language or culture of some aspect of cognition may tell us little about the influence of other aspects of language or culture on cognition.<br /><br />These lessons are easier with some variables than with others. It is probably easiest with some aspects of language, because a good deal is now known about many of the languages of the world. It will often be more difficult in the case of culture, where things are more difficult to pin down than they are in the case of language. And it will be virtually impossible when history is the relevant variable; here much more speculative interpretations of historical documents may be the best we can do. But the basic point remains. Relativistic claims are empirical causal claims and they can only be settled by empirical evidence.<br /><br />It is not always easy to strike the proper balance when thinking about empirical work on these matters. On the one hand it is useful to cultivate an “it-can't-be-that-simple” reflex for use when reading an isolated study or two. But on the other hand empirical investigation is the only thing that can answer many of the difficult questions about the complex, entangled processes of language, culture, and thought.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-32779950976602179792008-06-18T13:49:00.000+02:002008-06-18T13:50:36.762+02:00The Vocabulary of Ontology<span style="font-weight:bold;">Being</span><br /> <br />A) THE CONCEPT OF BEING<br />1) THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN LINGUISTICS<br />"Any linguistic study of the Greek verb be is essentially conditioned, and perhaps ultimately motivated, by the philosophic career of this word. We know what an extraordinary career it has been. It seems fair to say, with Benveniste, that the systematic development of a concept of Being in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to Aristotle, and then in a more mechanical way from the Stoics to Plotinus, relies upon the pre-existing disposition of the language to make a very general and diversified use of the verb einai. Furthermore, insofar as the notions expressed by on, einai, and ousia in Greek underlie the doctrines of Being, substance, essence, and existence in Latin, in Arabic, and in modern philosophy from Descartes to Heidegger and perhaps to Quine, we may say that the usage of the Greek verb be studied here forms the historical basis for the ontological tradition of the West, as the very term "ontology" suggests.<br />At the same time it is generally recognized that this wide range of uses for the single verb eimi in Greek reflects a state of affairs which is "peculiar to Indo-European languages, and by no means a universal situation or a necessary condition." (1) The present monograph series on "the verb 'be' and its synonyms" shows just how far the languages of the earth may differ from one another in their expression for existence, for predication with nouns or with adjectives, for locative predication, and so forth. The topic of be can itself scarcely be defined except by reference to Indo-European verbs representing the root *es-. The question naturally arises whether an historical peculiarity of this kind can be of any fundamental importance for general linguistics and, even more pressing, whether a concept reflecting the Indo-European use of *es- can be of any general significance in philosophy." <br /> <br />(1) Émile Benveniste - "Catégories de pensée et catégories de langue" (1958) - in: Problèmes de linguistique générale - (Paris , 1966) p. 73 <br />From: Charles H. Kahn - The verb 'Be' in ancient Greek - Dordrecht, Reidel (1973) p. 1 (Reprinted Indianapolis, Hackett, 2003 with a new introduction)<br /> <br />2) THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN OCCIDENTAL PHILOSOPHY (BEFORE HEIDEGGER)<br />"When the early Greek thinkers initiated philosophical speculation, the very first question they asked themselves was: What stuff is reality made of? Taken in itself, this question was strikingly indicative of the most fundamental need of the human mind. To understand something is for us to conceive it as identical in nature with something else that we already know. To know the nature of reality at large is therefore for us to understand that each and every one of the innumerable things which make up the universe is, at bottom, identical in nature with each and every other thing. Prompted by this unshakable conviction, unshakable because rooted in the very essence of human understanding, the early Greek thinkers successively attempted to reduce nature in general to water, then to air, then to fire, until one of them at last hit upon the right answer to the question, by saying that the primary stuff which reality is made of is being.<br />The answer was obviously correct, for it is not at once evident that, in the last analysis, air and fire are nothing else than water, or that, conversely, water itself is nothing else than either air or fire; but it cannot be doubted that, whatever else they may be, water, air and fire have in common at least this property, that they are. Each of them is a being, and, since the same can be said of everything else, we cannot avoid the conclusion that being is the only property certainly shared in common by all that which is. Being, then, is the fundamental and ultimate element of reality.<br />When he made this discovery, Parmenides of Elea at once carried metaphysical speculation to what was always to remain one of its ultimate limits; but, at the same time, he entangled himself in what still is for us one of the worst metaphysical difficulties. It had been possible for Parmenides' predecessors to identify nature with water, fire or air, without going to the trouble of defining the meaning of those terms. If I say that everything is water, everybody will understand what I mean, but if I say that everything is being, I can safely expect to be asked: what is being? For indeed we all know many beings, but what being itself is, or what it is to be, is an extremely obscure and intricate question. Parmenides could hardly avoid telling us what sort of reality being itself is. In point of fact, he was bold enough to raise the problem and clear-sighted enough to give it an answer which still deserves to hold our attention." <br />From: Étienne Gilson - Being and some philosophers - Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies - Second edition, 1952, pp. 6-7 <br /> <br />In a first acceptation, the word being is a noun. As such, it signifies either d being (that is, the substance, nature, and essence of anything existent), or being itself, a property common to all that which can rightly be said to be. In a second acceptation, the same word is the present participle of the verb 'to be.' As a verb, it no longer signifies something that is, nor even existence in general, but rather the very act whereby any given reality actually is, or exists. Let us call this act a 'to be,' in contradistinction to what is commonly called 'a being.' It appears at once that, at least to the mind, the relation of 'to be' to 'being' is not a reciprocal one. 'Being' is conceivable, 'to be' is not. We cannot possibly conceive an 'is' except as belonging to some thing that is, or exists. But the reverse is not true. Being is quite conceivable apart from actual existence; so much so that the very first and the most universal of all the distinctions in the realm of being is that which divides it into two classes, that of the real and that of the possible. Now what is it to conceive a being as merely possible, if not to conceive it apart from actual existence? A 'possible' is a being which has not yet received, or which has already lost, its own to be. Since being is thinkable apart from actual existence, whereas actual existence is not thinkable apart from being, philosophers will simply yield to one of the fundamental facilities of the human mind by positing being minus actual existence as the first principle of metaphysics." <br />From: Étienne Gilson - Being and some philosophers - Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies - Second edition, 1952, pp. 2-3<br /> <br />3) THE CONCEPT OF BEING ACCORDING TO HEIDEGGER<br />"If for us Being is just an empty word and an evanescent meaning, then we must at least try to grasp fully this last remnant of a connection. So we ask, to begin with: 1. What sort of word is this anyway --Being -- as regards its formal character as a word? 2. What does linguistics tell us about the originary meaning of this word?To put this in scholarly terms, we are asking 1) about the grammar and 2) about the etymology of the word Being.<br />The grammatical analysis of words is neither exclusively nor primarily concerned with their written or spoken form. It takes these formal elements as clues to definite directions and differences in direction in the possible meanings of words; these directions dictate how the words can be used within a sentence or within a larger discursive structure. (...)We can easily see that un the formation of the word Being, the decisive precursor is the infinitive 'to be.' This form of the verb is transformed into a substantive. The character of our word Being, as a word, is determined, accordingly, by three grammatical forms: verb, infinitive, and substantive. Thus our first task is to understand the meaning of these grammatical forms. Of the three we have named, verb and substantive are among those that were first recognized at the start of Western grammar and that even today are taken as the fundamental forms of words and of language in general. And so, with the question about the essence of the substantive and of the verb, we find ourselves in the midst of the question about the essence of language. For the question of whether the primordial form of the word is the noun (substantive) or the verb coincides with the question of the originary character of speech and speaking. In turn, this question entails the question of the origin of language. We cannot start by immediately going into this question. We are forced onto a detour. We will restrict ourselves in what follows to that grammatical form which provides the transitional phase in the development of the verbal substantive: the infinitive (to go, to come, to fall, to sing, to hope, to be, etc.).<br />What does "infinitive" mean? This term is an abbreviation of the complete one: modus infinitivus, the mode of unboundedness, of indeterminateness, regarding the manner in which a verb exercises and indicates the function and direction of its meaning. (...).<br />Above all we must consider the fact that the definitive differentiation of the fundamental forms of words (noun and verb) in the Greek form of onoma and rhema was worked out and first established in the most immediate and intimate connection with the conception and interpretation of Being that has been definitive for the entire West. This inner bond between these two happenings is accessible to us unimpaired and is carried out in full clarity in Plato's Sophist. The terms onoma and rhema were already known before Plato, of course. But at that time, and still in Plato, they were understood as terms denoting the use of words as a whole. Onoma means the linguistic name as distinguished from the named person or thing, and it also means the speaking of a word, which was later conceived grammatically as rhema. And rhema in turn means the spoken word, speech; the rhetor is the speaker, the orator, who uses not only verbs but also onomata in the narrower meaning of the substantive.<br />The fact that both terms originally governed an equally wide domain is important for our later point that the much-discussed question in linguistics of whether the noun or the verb represents the primordial form of the word is not a genuine question. This pseudo-question first arose in the context of a developed grammar rather than from a vision of the essence of language, an essence not yet dissected by grammar." <br />From: Martin Heidegger - Introduction to metaphysics - New translation by Gregory Fried and Richard Polt - New Haven, Yale University Press, 2000, pp. 55-60 (notes omitted).<br /> <br />________________________________________<br />B) THE HISTORY OF BEING (LINGUISTIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES)<br /> <br />1) HEBREW LANGUAGE: THE VERB "BE"<br />"On the other hand, by means of the so-called noun clause the Hebrew language is much better able to express the 'static' or 'that which is' in its logical sense than the Greek and our modern languages permit with their copula and their verbs of inaction. We shall define the noun clause in agreement with Gesenius-Kautzsch, in order to be able to understand the 'being' expressed in it:Every sentence, the subject as well as the predicate of which is a noun or noun equivalent is called a noun clause, while in a verbal clause the predicate is a finite verb. This distinction is indispensable for more subtle understanding of Hebrew syntax (as of Semitics in general) because it is not merely a matter of an external, formal distinction in meaning but of one that goes to the depths of the language. The noun clause, the predicate of which is a substantive, offers something fixed, not active, in short, a 'being'; the verbal clause on the other hand asserts something moving and in flux, an event and an action. The noun clause with a participial predicate can also assert something moving and in flux, except that here the event and action is fixed as something not active and enduring, as opposed to the verbal clause. For our purpose, it is not necessary to discuss all the various kinds of noun classes, and in particular not those with participial predicates which should logically be considered as verbal clauses." <br />(1) Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842) and Emil Friedrich Kautzsch (1841-1910) - Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Edited and enlarged by E. Kautzsch Translated and revised from German 28th edition by Arthur Ernest Cowley. 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910 - § 140 [Reprinted by Oxford University Press in 1995]<br />From: Thorleif Boman - Hebrew thought compared with Greek - English updated translation by Jules Moreau - Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1960; reprinted by W. W. Norton & Company, 2002 pp. 35-36. (some notes omitted). Original edition: Das hebräische Denken im Vergleich mit dem griechischen - Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1952 (second revised edition 1954)<br /> <br />"What is the basic fact of 'being' for the Israelites will result from the analysis of the verb hayah that follows.<br />A) The verb hayah: We must devote special attention to this verb not only because it occurs most frequently but also because the verbal problems discussed above are concentrated in this verb and appear in it in their most difficult form. (...) The most important meanings and uses of our verb 'to be' (and its equivalents in other Indo-European languages) are: (1) to express being or existence; (2) to serve as a copula. Now, as we have shown above, Hebrew and the other Semitic languages do not need a copula because of the noun clause. As a general rule, therefore, it may be said that hayah is not used as a copula; real or supposed exceptions to this rule will be cited later. The characteristic mark of hayah, in distinction from our verb 'to be', is that it is a true verb with full verbal force. The majority of formal considerations as well as the actual ones lead to this conclusion:<br />I. The peculiarity of emphasizing the verbal idea by use of the infinitive absolute before finite verbs;<br />II. the occurrence of the passive form Niph'al;<br />III. its frequent occurrence in parallel with other verbs whose verbal force is beyond doubt; this is so frequent an occurrence that a few examples will suffice: Jahveh hurled a great wind, and a mighty tempest was ( Jonah 1.4); God created (made, spoke) and the corresponding thing was ( Gen. 1.3, 9, 11); its parallel use with qûm = 'be realized' (Isa. 7.7; 14.24); the messengers of the king command the prophet Micaiah to prophesy safety and victory, 'Let thy word be as the word of one of them (i.e. the prophets of good fortune)', ( I Kings 22.13). <br />The meaning of hayah is apparently manifold; hayah has thus been considered to some extent a general word which can mean everything possible and therefore designates nothing characteristic. Closer examination reveals, however, that this is not the case. It is therefore necessary to establish the many meanings and shades of meaning of hayah and to find their inner connexion. We shall use first the results of Ratschow (1) who has examined the occurrences of hayah in the Old Testament with a thoroughness hardly to be excelled and in whose work is to be found extensive evidence. He found three principal meanings: 'to become', 'to be', and 'to effect'; but these are related internally and form a unity. In the main this will be right, and it agrees with our understanding of Hebrew thought; we must object, however, to details."<br />(1) Carl H. Ratschow - Werden und Wirken, Eine Untersuchung des wortes hajah als Beitrag zur Wirklichkeitserfassung des Alten Testaments ("Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft", 70) - Berlin, A. Töpelmann, 1941. <br />From: Thorleif Boman - Hebrew thought compared with Greek - English updated translation by Jules Moreau - Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1960; reprinted by W. W. Norton & Company, 2002 pp. 38-39. (notes omitted). Original edition: Das hebräische Denken im Vergleich mit dem griechischen - Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1952 (second revised edition 1954).<br /> <br />"In modern biblical theology it is commonly held that the Israelites were not interested in 'existence' as distinct from active existence, action or life; and correspondingly that the language has no means of expressing mere existence. The same seems to be the opinion of Boman, who several times says that a static being is a nothing to the Israelites.<br />It was mentioned earlier that 'the verb 'to be' as copula or existential was one of the subjects of the questionnaire circulated by Basson and O'Connor and reported on in their article. On this question they got an answer, and they report as follows: 'Semitic languages have in general no copula, but Hebrew and Assyrian both have a special word for "exists" '.1 Does this contradict the opinion I have just described?There are at least three linguistic phenomena which are relevant to the discussion of 'to be' in Hebrew:(a) The ordinary type of sentence where the copula 'is' is used in English, such as 'David is the king', 'he is the man', has no verb as copula in Hebrew. Hebrew uses the nominal sentence, which is a mere juxtaposition of the two elements 'David' and 'the king'. The nominal sentence is a very well-established feature of Semitic syntax. A common addition is the pronoun 'he' or 'she' introduced after the subject, giving the sentence 'David-he-the-king'. Since this pronoun is not indispensable and is indeed very frequently not so inserted, I think it can be neglected in a discussion of the copula.<br />(b) The verb hayah 'to be'. This is discussed at length by Boman, and I shall later make some remarks about his treatment of it. For the present we have to make clear only the most important fact for the co-ordination of hayah with other terms corresponding to English 'to be': it is only at certain points that this verb coincides in function with 'to be as copula or existential'. In a very large number of its occurrences it will be well translated by 'come to be' or 'come to pass'. Or, conversely, English sentences using 'is' in the present tense either as copula or as existential will seldom be rendered into Hebrew with hayah; they will much more normally use the nominal sentence, or the particle yel 'there is'. We are not on the other hand justified in removing hayah altogether from the sphere of what is relevant to English 'is' and making it equivalent (say) to English 'become'. For example, a statement like 'the earth is waste' will have the nominal sentence, and no verb; but if we put it in the past and say 'the earth was waste (and is no longer so)', then the verb hayahis used, as in Gen. I: 2. It would be quite perverse to insist on the meaning 'became' here, and so a certain overlap with 'be' has to be observed. In fact the sense of 'come to he' or 'come to pass' is not to be explained by going over to 'become' as the basic sense, but by noticing that very frequent uses have an ingressive element which with a verb meaning 'be' will lead to a sense roughly of 'come to be' or 'come to pass'.<br />(c) The word yeš; 'there is' and the opposite 'ayin or 'en 'there is not'. This is of course the 'special word for exists ' mentioned in the report above. Boman in his discussion of 'being' does not mention this frequent and important word at all. Moreover, a considerable complication is introduced into the discussion by this word. Basson and O'Connor (1) are right in saying that it is a 'special word for 'exists', in the sense that it is not normally used as a copula in sentences like 'David is the king'. You use it in sentences like 'There is a dish on the table' or 'There is a God in heaven'.<br />The complication to which I refer is that this word, which we might describe rather vaguely as a particle, is certainly not a verb, has some of the characteristics of the noun and may be translated 'being, existence' in a rather over-literal rendering.<br />(...)<br />"Now another point of some importance can be illustrated from this word. The point I wish to make is that the question whether the Israelites laid any emphasis on 'mere' existence as distinct from active existence of some kind is a different one from the question whether their language had words that could express 'mere' existence. The word yeÅ¡ can be well translated by 'there is', and as in English 'there is' we press too far if we try to find in it the expression of 'mere' existence. In fact many cases which use it have also some locality indicated: 'There is bread in my house', 'There is Yahweh in this place'. This is no doubt the 'existential' sense of 'is' as against the 'copula' type. Nevertheless 'exists' would not be a good translation in these sentences, since we would not normally say 'Bread exists in my house' or 'There exists a dish on the table'. In other words, the 'existential' use of the word 'is' does not coincide semantically with 'exists' and does not raise the problem of 'mere' existence, especially when a locality is indicated."<br /> <br />(1) A. H. Basson, and D. J. O'Connor - Language and philosophy: some suggestions for an empirical approach - Philosophy, XXII (1947) p. 59.<br /> <br />From: James Barr - The semantics of biblical language - Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1961 - pp. 58-61 (some notes omitted).<br /> <br />2) GREEK LANGUAGE: ON THE MEANING OF "EINAI" AND "TO ON"<br />"einai: to be, to exist; to on: that which is, the real; ousia: being, essence. This verb caused great philosophical difficulty to the Greeks and consequential difficulties for us. Much of the trouble arises from the fact that one can say Platôn esti - Plato exists - or Platôn esti philosophos -- Plato is a philosopher - making use of the same verb, whereas in English `Plato is' is at best an unidiomatic way of saying that he exists. This double use led some earlier Greek philosophers to think that a sentence beginning Platôn ouk esti... must deny the existence of Plato even if the next word is barbaros. This leads to translation difficulties for us, as for instance with the sentence ei ti phaneiê hoion hama on to kai mê on, to toiouton metaxu keisthai tou eilikrinôs ontos kai tou pantôs mê ontos(Plato Rep. 478d), which might be translated either as 'if something should appear such as both to have and not to have a certain predicate [we said that] such a thing would lie between being clearly of that sort and not being so at all' or as `if something should appear such that it simultaneously exists and does not exist [we said that] such a thing would lie between clearly existing and not existing at all'. It was presumably these difficulties that led Parmenides to say such things as khrê to legein to noein t'eon emmenai esti gar einai, mêden d'ouk estin - that of which one can speak and think must be: for it is possible for it, but not for nothing, to be (Parmenides in Simplicius, Physics 117.4). In an impersonal use esti frequently means `it is possible' as in estin adikounta mêpô adikon einai - it is possible to do what is unjust without being an unjust person (Aristotle N.E. 1134a 17), and in the quotation from Parmenides above. There are also adverbial expressions such as estin hote, sometimes, and estin hôs, in some ways.".<br />"on: to on,in the widest sense, is everything that is and, as such, is contrasted with to mê on, that which is not; in a narrower use to on, sometimes called for clarity to ontôs on, the really real, is unchanging and imperishable and eternal, and is contrasted with the gignomenon that is changing and perishable. In the dispute between Parmenides and the atomists it is hard to doubt that to mê on as the non-existent is confused with empty space: oute gar an gnoiês to ge mê on: ou gar anuston -- you cannot know that which is not; it is impossible (Parmenides, fr. 2); ouden gar estin ê estai allo parex tou eontos -- nothing other than what is either is or will be (Parmenides, fr. 8). But Simplicius reports Leucippus as saying ouden mallon to on ê to mê on huparkhein -- there is that which is no more than that which is not (Simplicius, Physics 28.12); here to mê on seems to be the kenon, void; cf. the den of Democritus. In the narrower use, to men pantelôs on pantelôs gnôston -- the completely real is completely knowable (Plato Rep. 477a); ei gar panta to onta tou agathou ephietai, dêlon hoti to prôtôs agathon epekeina esti tôn ontôn -- for if everything that is aims at the good, it is clear that the primary good transcends things that are (Proclus, Elements of Theology 8); to gar houtôs on proteron têi phusei tou gignomenou esti - that which is in this [narrow] way is prior in its nature to the becoming (Simplicius, Physics 1337.4)."<br />From: James Opie Urmson - The Greek philosophical vocabulary - London, Duckworth 1990 pp. 49-50 and 117.<br /> <br />"on ónta (pl.): being, beings.<br />1. The question of the nature of being first arose in the context of Parmenides' series of logical dichotomies between being and nonbeing (me on): that which is, cannot not be; that which is not, cannot be, i.e., a denial of passage from being to nonbeing or genesis (q.v.; fr. 2) , and its corollary, a denial of change and motion (fr. 8, lines 26-33, 42-50; for the theological correlatives of this, see nous 2). Secondly, being is one and not many (fr. 8, lines 22-25) . And finally, the epistemological premiss: only being can be known or named; nonbeing cannot (fr. 3; fr. 8, line 34); see doxa. Being, in short, is a sphere (fr. 8, lines 42-4g) . Most of the later pre-Socratics denied this latter premiss (cf. stoicheion and atomon), as did Plato for whom the really real (to ontos on) were the plural eide, and who directed the latter half of the Parmenides (137b-166c) against it.<br />2. The solution to the nonbeing dilemma (for its epistemological solution, see doxa and heteron) and the key to the analysis of genesis began with Plato's positing of space (see hypodoche) in which genesis takes place, and which stands midway between true being and nonbeing (Tim. 52a-c). For Plato, as for Parmenides, absolute nonbeing is nonsense (Sophist 238c), but there is a relative grade illustrated not only by the Receptacle cited above, but by sensible things (aistheta) as well (Sophist 240b; Timaeus. 35a, 52c). Among the Platonic hierarchy of Forms, there is aneidos of being; indeed it is one of the most important Forms that pervade all the rest (Sophist 254b-d; compare this with the peculiar nature of on in Aristotle, Metaphysics 1003a) . Further, Plato distinguishes real beings (ontos onta) from those that have genesis, and in Timaeus 28a he works out an epistemological-ontological correlation: onta are known by thought (noesis) accompanied by a rational account (logos); generated beings are grasped by opinion (or judgment, see doxa) based on sensation (aisthesis).<br />3. Since being is the object of the science of metaphysics (Metaphysics 1031a) Aristotle's treatment of on is much more elaborate. The first distinction is between "being qua being" (to on he on), which is the object of metaphysics, and individual beings (onta), which are the objects of the other sciences. This is the view in Metaphysics 1003a, but Aristotle is not consistent on the point: elsewhere (see Metaphysics 1026a; Physics 192a, 194b; De an. 403b) he states that metaphysics studies being that is separate and unmoving (see theologia). Again, 'being' is peculiar in that it is defined not univocally or generically, but analogously through all the categories (Metaphysics 1003a) , and in this it is like 'one' (hen) (Metaphysics 1053b ) and 'good' (agathon) ( ibid. Nichomachean Ethics I, 1096b ) ; see katholou. There follows a basic distinction (ibid. 1017a-b): something 'is' either accidentally, or essentially, or epistemologically, or in the dichotomy act (energeia) / potency (dynamis). The epistemological 'being' (see doxa) is dealt with elsewhere ( see Metaphysics 1027b-1028a, 1051a-1152a), as is potency/act (see Metaphysics Theta passim), so Aristotle here concentrates his attention on what 'is' essentially. It is something that falls within the ten kategoriai (Metaphysics 1017a) and is, primarily, substance (ousia; ibid. 1028a-b). A somewhat different point of view emerges from Aristotle's breakdown of the various senses of nonbeing (me on) in Metaphysics 1069b and 1089a: something is not either as a negative proposition, i.e., a denial of one of the predicates, or as a false proposition, or finally, kata dynamin, i.e., by being something else only potentially but not actually. It is from this latter that genesis comes about ( see also dynamis, energeia, steresis) .<br />4. In the Plotinian universe the One (hen) is beyond being (Enneads V, 9, 3; compare Plato's description of the Good beyond Being in Republic 509b and see hyperousia). The realm of being begins on the level of nous since both being and nous are contained in nous (ibid. V, 5, 2; V, 9, 7). Nonbeing is treated in much the Platonic and Aristotelian fashion: matter (hyle) that is only a replica (eikon) of being is only quasi-being ( Enneads I, 8, 3). Philo, with his strongly developed feeling of divine transcendence (see hyperousia), restricts true being to God alone (Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat. 44., 160) , arid introduces into the discussion the metaphysical interpretation of the famous phrase in Exodus 3, 14: 'I am who am'; see hypodoche, hyle, genesis." <br />From: Francis Edwards Peters - Greek philosophical terms. A historical lexicon - New York, New York University Press, 1967 pp. 141-142.<br /> <br />"There can be no doubt that Parmenides' Goddess's philosophy course is concerned with 'being.' But saying this is not saying anything. In Greek, as in Spanish [or English], 'to be' is a verb and, like any verb it can be used as a noun, and then we can speak of 'being' (used as a noun). But this verbal noun is essentially different in Greek than it is in other languages, and so we cannot ignore the problem. This specificity is one of the results of the flexibility of the Greek language, which permits all kinds of juggling. E. Benveniste wrote that "the linguistic structure of Greek created the predisposition for the notion 'to be' to have a philosophical vocation." (1) Indeed, the use of the verb 'to be' as a noun absolutely does not mean what Philosophers call 'being' (the noun). To use an infinitive as a noun in Spanish it must be preceded by an article, in this case 'el' ['the']. Then the infinitive 'ser"'['to be'] becomes 'el ser' ['the being'] used as a noun, in Greek 'tò eînai.' However, this formula never figured among the concerns of the Greek philosophers. No Greek philosopher who inquired into what today we might call 'the being of things,' or even 'certain types of beings,' including the supreme being, ever asked 'what is tò eînai?' literally 'what is being?' As we know, especially since the Aristotelian systemization, the formula used by all Greek philosophers to ask the question of being is tí esti tò ón (to eon in Parmenides), 'What is being?' 'Tò eon' is the present participle of the verb to be, used as a noun. The difficulty of grasping the scope of this neuter present participle (since there is also a masculine and a feminine present participle) has always given rise to all kinds of misunderstandings, since its use as a noun, represented by the neuter article 'tó,' is deceptive, and so Parmenides avoids it whenever he can. Indeed, just as verbal-noun infinitives always have a dynamic character, something similar occurs with the participle tò on, which as a present participle means that which is being,' that which engages in the act of being now. In all that I have said up till now, philosophy is absent: I have only summarized, perhaps too superficially, what Benveniste calls 'un fait de langue,"' (2) a fact about Greek simply as a language.<br />It is upon this linguistic fact that Parmenides reflects. In Greek the word for 'things' is ónta. Even in current everyday language, things are 'beings,' 'something(s) that is (are),' 'that which is being.' Philosophy has not yet come into it: that's the way the Greek language is. But why do we call something that is a 'being'? Because the fact of being manifests itself in that which is; if there is that which is, then the fact of being is assumed. Without the fact of being, there would not be things that are. This sort of platitude will constitute the nucleus of Parmenides' philosophy. And that is the reason why his thinking starts from an analysis of the notion of the fact of being, arrived at from the evidence that 'is' is occurring. If there is something undeniable for anyone who is, it is 'is.' If Greek syntax allowed the formula, we could say, with R. Regvald, that the basic question would be 'tí esti ésti,' 'What is 'is'?"<br />(1) Emile Benveniste, Problèmes de linguistique générale - Paris, Gallimard, 1959 p. 73<br />(2) ibid. p. 71 note 1.<br />From: Néstor-Luis Cordero - By Being, It Is. The thesis of Parmenides - Las Vegas, Parmenides Publishing, 2004 pp. 59-60 (some note omitted).<br /> <br />"It is an understatement to claim that `being' is one of the central concepts of ancient Greek metaphysics. Unfortunately, there is a split between contemporary commentators as to what is under discussion when being is the topic. On one side are those who think that these discussions are basically about existence; what exists, the various sorts of existence, what can be inferred from the fact that something exists, etc. On the other side are those who believe that these discussions are investigations into the nature of predication; of being something or other, the various ways a thing can be what it is, what can be inferred from the fact that a thing is something or other, etc. Obviously these are two quite different topics. For example, on the existence interpretation, as I shall call it, one of Parmenides' main points is that we cannot (meaningfully) speak of what does not exist. His mistake is to think that words and phrases which purport to refer but which do not refer are meaningless. On the predication approach, Parmenides is correctly pointing out that we cannot speak about nothing (what is not anything at all) and still be speaking. His mistake is to confuse not being something or other with not being anything at all. (1) On the existence interpretation, it is perhaps fair to say that Plato's distinction between real being and a lesser sort is a distinction between kinds of existence. On the predication approach, it is a distinction between really being this or that and being in a way or qualifiedly this or that. One's view of Greek metaphysics is going to be strongly influenced by which approach one takes. A little can be said about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches without getting into the details where, as we all know, the devil dwells. In philosophical discussions of being we frequently find the Greek, 'èsti', occurring without a completion. On the predication approach, sentences of the form, 'x is', are understood as meaning much the same as, 'x is something or other', in the way that, 'x sees', means much the same as, 'x sees something or other'. Furthermore, 'x is something or other', is understood as different in meaning from, 'x exists'. For example, Centaurs do not exist but they are mythical creatures, discussed, thought of and sometimes believed in. Thus, they are something or other though they do not exist. The problem for the predication approach is that there is no unambiguous use of, 'x is', to mean, 'x is something or other', in ordinary Greek. Such sentences can, however, mean, 'x exists'. This is a significant point in favor of the existence reading. This would probably be the end of the story were it not for the fact that in the metaphysical texts in question examples are given or inferences are drawn which make it clear that predication is in some way involved. For example, in the Theaetetus, 152 a ff., Socrates introduces Protagoras' relativism as follows: "Man is the measure of all things - of the things that are that they are and of the things that are not that they are not." Though an existential reading is perfectly natural, it is all but contradicted by what follows. Socrates illustrates the quoted dictum by pointing out that a wind may be chilly to one person and not chilly to another, i. e., that a thing may be thus and so to one person and not be that to another. Existence seems not to be in question. The strength of the predication approach stems from the fact that frequently the philosophical texts in question require us to somehow understand the verb,'ésti', as the copula.<br />(1) Mohan Matthen, "Greek Ontology and the 'Is' of Truth", presents and defends what is perhaps the most detailed and well worked out existence approach in the literature.(2) After pointing out that Greek philosophers sometimes use the verb, 'einai', in such a way that it seems to express both existence and predication, he presents an interesting account of this phenomenon which allows us to read absolute occurrences of the verb as neither the copula nor as (con)fused but as meaning simply, 'exists'. The assimilation of these occurrences to the copula is achieved by arguing that speakers of ancient Greek were committed to the existence of a type of entity which is unfamiliar to us and which he calls a 'predicative complex'. (3) (1) Richard J. Ketchum "Parmenides in What There Is", Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 20/2 (1990), 167-190. <br />(2) "Greek Ontology and the 'Is' of Truth", Phronesis, 28/2 (1983), 113-135. <br />(3) Matthen sometimes writes as if his thesis is restricted to philosophical Ancient Greek as opposed to Ancient Greek generally. For example, the task he sets for himself is to explain why Greek Ontologists accepted some principles which he in turn uses to account for the apparent ambiguity (p. 116). I shall assume here, however, that this thesis is intended to cover Ancient Greek generally. Greek ontologists other than Aristotle were at least sometimes writing for the general public. If the principles in question were accepted only by the ontologists, the various uses of 'shat' would have been as confusing to the ancient Greek as they are to us. If we restricted the thesis to ontologists, we would also need some explanation as to why the ontologists assumed principles of which the ordinary Greek was unaware. <br /> From: Richard J. Ketchum "Being and existence in Geek ontology" Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 80, (1998) p. 321-322 <br /> <br />3) FROM GREEK TO LATIN: SENECA'S EPISTLE 58 ("THE LETTER ON BEING")<br /> <br />"How scant of words our language is, nay, how poverty-stricken, I have not fully understood until today. We happened to be speaking of Plato, and a thousand subjects came up for discussion, which needed names and yet possessed none; and there were certain others which once possessed, but have since lost, their words because we were too nice about their use.<br />(...)<br />You will say, I suppose: 'What is the purpose and meaning of this preamble?' I shall not keep you in the dark; I desire, if possible, to say the word essentia to you and obtain a favourable hearing. If I cannot do. this, I shall risk it even though it put you out of humour. I have Cicero as authority for the use of this word, and I regard him as a powerful authority. If you desire testimony of a later date, I shall cite Fabianus, careful of speech, cultivated, and so polished in style that lie will suit even our nice tastes. For what can we do, my dear Lucilius? How otherwise call we find a word for that, which the Greeks call ousia, something that is indispensable, something that is the natural substratum of everything? I beg you accordingly to allow me to use this word essentia. I shall nevertheless take pains to exercise the privilege, which you have granted me, with as sparing a hand as possible; perhaps I shall be content with the mere right. Yet what good will your indulgence do me, if, lo and behold, I can in no wise express in Latin the meaning of the word which gave me the opportunity to rail at the poverty of our language? And you will condemn our narrow Roman limits even more, when you find out that there is a word of one syllable which I cannot translate. 'What is this ?' you ask. It is the word on. You think me lacking in facility; you believe that the word is ready to hand, that it might be translated by quod est. I notice, however, a great difference; you are forcing me to render a noun by a verb. But if I must do so, I shall render it by quod est. There are six ways in which Plato expresses this idea, according to a friend of ours, a man of great learning, who mentioned the fact today. And I shall explain all of them to you, if I may first point out that there is something called genus and something called species." <br />From: Seneca - Ad Lucilium. Epistulae morales - With an English translation by Richard M. Gummere - London - William Heinemann, 1953 ( Loeb Classical Library) pp. 387; 389-391).<br /> <br />________________________________________drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-86482392315209073022008-05-11T08:17:00.001+02:002008-05-11T08:20:18.066+02:00Veni Creator SpiritusEen kerkelijk pinkster hymne<br /><br />(vermoedelijk van de benedictijner monnik Hrabanus Maurus - 780-856)<br /><br />Veni, Creator Spiritus<br />mentes tuorum visita<br />Imple superna gratia<br />quae tu creasti pectora.<br />Qui Paraclitus diceris,<br />Donum Dei Altissimi,<br />fons vivus, ignis, caritas,<br />et spiritalis unctio.<br />Tu septiformis munere,<br />dextrae Dei tu digitus;<br />tu rite promissum Patris,<br />sermone ditans guttura.<br />Accende lumen sensibus,<br />infunde amorem cordibus,<br />infirma nostri corporis,<br />virtute firmans perpeti.<br />Hostem repellas longius,<br />pacemque duces protinus,<br />ductore sic te praevio,<br />vitemus omne noxium.<br />Per te sciamus da Patrem,<br />noscamus atque Filium,<br />te utriusque Spiritum<br />credamus omni tempore.<br />Sit laus Patri cum Filio,<br />Sancto simul Paraclito:<br />nobisque mittat Filius<br />charisma Sancti Spiritus.<br />Amen.<br /> <br /><br />Kom Schepper, Geest, daal tot ons neer,<br />houd Gij bij ons uw intocht, Heer;<br />vervul het hart dat U verbeidt,<br />met hemelse barmhartigheid.<br />Gij zijt de gave Gods, Gij zijt<br />de grote Trooster in de tijd,<br />de bron waaruit het leven springt,<br />het liefdevuur dat ons doordringt.<br />Gij schenkt uw gaven zevenvoud,<br />O hand die God ten zegen houdt,<br />O taal waarin wij God verstaan,<br />wij heffen onze lofzang aan.<br />Verlicht ons duistere verstand,<br />geef dat ons hart van liefde brandt,<br />en dat ons zwakke lichaam leeft<br />vanuit de kracht die Gij het geeft.<br />Verlos ons als de vijand woedt,<br />geef ons de vrede weer voorgoed,<br />Leid Gij ons voort, opdat geen kwaad,<br />geen ongeval ons leven schaadt.<br />Doe ons de Vader en de Zoon<br />aanschouwen in de hoge troon,<br />O Geest van beiden uitgegaan,<br />wij bidden U gelovig aan.<br />Aan God de Vader zij de eer<br />en aan de opgestane Heer<br />en aan de Geest die troost en leidt<br />van eeuwigheid tot eeuwigheid.<br />Amendrs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-57137261616904401252008-05-11T08:04:00.002+02:002008-05-11T08:10:51.557+02:00Veni Creator SpiritusHet kerklied als vertolking van het evangelie<br /><br />(door A. Noordegraaf)<br /><br />De feestloze helft van het kerkelijk jaar... zo wordt de periode na Pinksteren in de kerk soms wel aangeduid. Ik vind het altijd een merkwaardige uitdrukking, sterker nog, ik heb het gevoel dat de woorden volstrekt misplaatst zijn. Is elke zondag niet een herinnering en verwijzing naar het paasgebeuren, de opstanding van Christus? In die zin gaan we van zondag tot zondag van feest tot feest. Dat danken we aan Pinksteren. De uitstorting van de Geest is een heilsfeit, even eenmalig als de <br />geboorte van Christus of de opstanding. Wij leven van de wind. Ook en juist na <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pinksteren</span>.<br /><br />Cultuurfilosofen mogen onze tijd dan betitelen als post-christelijk - en je kunt je daar best iets bij voorstellen -, toch is het goed om elkaar er aan te herinneren dat wij sinds Pinksteren niet in een lege tijd leven. God heeft zijn Geest uitgestort en nog nooit teruggenomen. Daaraan danken wij het Leven.<br />In deze bijdrage die de lezer zo omstreeks september bereikt, wil ik daarom een pinksterlied aan de orde stellen. Mijn keus viel op de klassieke hymne ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’. In het Liedboek voor de kerken staan vier versies van dit kernlied voor Pinksteren bij uitnemendheid (Gez. 237-240), waaronder twee bewerkingen van Maarten Luther. Luther was bijzonder gesteld op deze hymne op de Geest, omdat deze hymne zo strak en orthodox en helder spreekt over de Heilige Geest zonder te vervallen in dwepen en dromen.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Karolingische renaissance</span><br /><br />Ik beperk me voornamelijk tot de middeleeuwse versie die u als gezang 237 in het Liedboek aantreft [1]. Schulte Nordholt schrijft in het Compendium bij het Liedboek dat het zingen van dit lied in de Middeleeuwen omgeven werd met een bijzonder ontzag en met een plechtige toewijding, door het luiden van klokken, het branden van wierook en het ontsteken van kaarsen.<br />Het stamt vermoedelijk uit de tijd van de zogenoemde Karolingische renaissance. Daarmee duiden we de periode aan, waarin Karel de Grote (768-814) zich inzette voor de bevordering van onderwijs, wetenschap en cultuur naar het voorbeeld van de klassieken en tegelijk grote aandacht gaf aan de organisatie van het kerkelijk leven en de hervorming van de liturgie. Enkele bouwwerken, zoals Karels paleiskapel in Aken vormen nog altijd een zichtbare erfenis van deze karolingische aandacht voor kerk en cultuur.<br />Geloof en theologie gingen hem zeer ter harte. Onder zijn invloed en op zijn aandrang werd op een rijkssynode in Aken bepaald en vastgelegd dat de Heilige Geest niet alleen aan de Vader zijn oorsprong dankte, zoals de Oosterse kerk beleed, maar uitging van de Vader en de Zoon.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hrabanus Maurus</span><br /><br />In de door Karel de Grote gestichte scholen kwam vooral de dichtkunst tot grote bloei. Maar, zo is opgemerkt, voor de kerk leverde dat niet zoveel op. De hoftheoloog, Alcuinus, een middelmatig dichter, schreef enkele hymnen die nauwelijks bekendheid kregen. De meeste bekendheid kreeg het lied dat we hier bespreken, de hymne over de Heilige Geest. De dichter van dit lied is vermoedelijk Hrabanus Maurus (780-856), een bekwaam theoloog, opgeleid aan de kloosterschool in Fulda. Later werd hij abt van dit klooster, terwijl hij als ruim zeventigjarige verkozen werd tot bisschop van Mainz.<br />Hymnologen wijzen er op dat het lied in zijn opbouw en strofenvorm invloed verraadt van de beroemde hymnendichter Ambrosius van Milaan, wiens betekenis voor het kerklied we nauwelijks kunnen overschatten. Vanaf de tiende eeuw raakt het lied hoe langer hoe meer ingeburgerd. Niet alleen was het het Pinksterlied bij uitstek, maar ook werd het gezongen bij bijzondere gelegenheden zoals de wijding van priesters en de zalving van koningen.<br />Wat maakt dit lied nu zo indrukwekkend, zodat het ook na zoveel eeuwen nog altijd aanspreekt? G. van der Leeuw verwoordt dat mijns inziens trefzeker, als hij opmerkt: ‘Zijn kracht ligt in de volstrekte afwezigheid van alle bespiegeling, in de directe aanroeping van de Geest, Wiens tegenwoordigheid als realiteit wordt ervaren.’ Ongetwijfeld geeft dit lied vele leermomenten die ons helpen de betekenis van de persoon en het werk van de Geest te verstaan. Maar het dogma is lied geworden, gezongen evangelie. Wij leren zingend geloven. De leer krijgt in deze hymnische vorm geen kans om te verstarren. Temeer, omdat het lied direct terugkoppelt op de taal van de Schrift.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kom Schepper, Geest</span><br /><br />De inzet is een smeekbede. En dit gebed om de komst van de Geest zet de toon.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Kom Schepper, Geest, daal tot ons neer,<br />houd Gij bij ons uw intocht, Heer;<br />vervul het hart, dat U verbeidt,<br />met hemelse barmhartigheid.</span><br /><br />Dat gebedswoord ‘kom’ past echt bij Pinksteren. Heilsfeiten zijn immers van een andere orde dan de feiten van elke dag. Heilsfeiten getuigen van de daden van God die ons vandaag aanspreekt. Je kunt geen Pinksteren vieren en dan overgaan tot de orde van de dag. Het pinksterevangelie wil resoneren in ons leven. En de resonans is de roep om de Geest, even dringend en verwachtend als de eerste leerlingen van Jezus volgens Handelingen 1:14 geroepen hebben.<br />Roepen om de Geest: dat impliceert dat we ons nooit kunnen opwerpen als gelukzalige bezitters, die over de Geest beschikken. Wie de geschiedenis van kerk en christendom nagaat, weet dat het altijd weer de grote verzoeking is om de Geest te binden aan het sacrament, een kerkinstituut, het innerlijk licht, de leer. In de kortste keren wordt dan de Heilige Geest van de Heere God ingewisseld voor de geest van de heren. Geloofszekerheid en geloofsblijdschap verworden dan tot parmantige zelfverzekerdheid. We behoeven daarbij niet alleen te denken aan het massieve katholicisme van het rijke Roomse leven. Ook reformatorische bewegingen zijn nogal eens in de valkuil van de ‘gelukzalige bezitters’ gevallen die het roepen verleerd hebben.<br />Vernieuwing of hervorming van de kerk betekenen altijd dat we weer opnieuw leren roepen om de Geest. Zo juist, als bedelaars om licht, ontdekken we de rijkdom van Pinksteren. In de beste uitingen van gereformeerde vroomheid klinkt de toon van deze katholieke gebedsroep ‘kom’ door. In de gereformeerde liturgie neemt het gebed om de verlichting door de Geest een grote plaats in. Het sursum corda uit de avondmaalsliturgie herinnert ons er aan, dat de verhoogde Christus present is door de kracht en de werking van zijn Geest. Er is een diepe samenhang tussen de voor de gereformeerde spiritualiteit zo kenmerkende notie van de ‘vreze des Heeren’ en de gebedsroep ‘kom’. Vreekamp schrijft naar aanleiding van het komen van Christus in de Geest: ’Wanneer Hij op de wijze van Woord en Geest zo verborgen nabij is, zullen we Hem slechts kunnen ontmoeten in de vreze des Heeren.’<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Gaven zevenvoud</span><br /><br />Gevoed door de beeldenrijkdom van de bijbel vertolkt de hymne de betekenis van de persoon en het werk van de Geest: De Gave Gods, de Trooster - Paraclitus staat er in de latijnse tekst, de erbij geroepene, de voorspraak -, levende bron, liefde, gloed, vinger van Gods rechterhand, geestelijke zalving. Ook dat laatste. De Geest zalft ons met zijn vuur om ons toe te rusten, te vormen tot een messiaanse gemeenschap, die profetisch, priesterlijk en koninklijk in de wereld staat. De Geest en zijn gaven zijn onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Gij schenkt uw gaven zevenvoud.<br />o, hand die God ten zegen houdt,<br />o, taal waarin wij God verstaan,<br />wij heffen onze lofzang aan.<br /></span><br />Dat zevenvoud aan gaven en vruchten herinnert aan en is terug te voeren op de messiaanse profetie van Jesaja 11:2, waar van de Messias gezegd wordt: ‘En op Hem zal de Geest des HEREN rusten, de Geest van wijsheid en verstand, de Geest van raad en sterkte, de Geest van kennis en vreze des Heren...’.<br />Maar er is meer. We worden onwillekeurig herinnerd aan de betekenis die de bijbel toekent aan het getal zeven als het getal van de volheid. Ik denk aan de zevenarmige menora, de kandelaar in tabernakel en tempel. In één van de nachtgezichten van Zacharja wordt dit licht van de kandelaar betrokken op het werk van de Geest. Over de vaak moeilijke situatie van de teruggekeerde ballingen valt dit licht als een straal van hoop: ‘Niet door kracht, noch door geweld, door mijn Geest zal het geschieden’ (Zach. 4:6).<br />Ik denk ook de visioenen uit de Openbaring van Johannes als een bron van troost voor een vervolgde gemeente: de verhoogde Christus temidden van de zeven gouden kandelaren (Op. 1:12,20), de zeven Geesten Gods als de zevenkleurige regenboog rondom de troon van God (Op. 3:1;4:3,5). ‘In het zevenvoud van gaven aan de mensen door de ene Geest is de volkomen sabbatsvrede uitgedrukt, tot oprichting en herleving van de mens’ (Beker-Hasselaar).<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Heelheid</span><br /><br />Pinksteren is bepaald geen karig gebeuren. Pinksteren is het feest van de royaliteit van God. Het is ook geen wazig gebeuren. De Geest is concreet in zijn gaven. Dat is in de de gereformeerde orthodoxie lang niet altijd begrepen. Het werk van de Geest werd dan versmald tot een puur innerlijke zaak. Soms kreeg je de indruk dat het zich beperkte tot de wedergeboorte van het verdorven hart. Hoe wezenlijk ook, dat is toch te smal. Wij mogen de charismatische beweging dankbaar zijn, dat ze ons attendeert op aspecten van Pinksteren die we onderweg kwijtgeraakt zijn.<br />De gave van de Spiritus septiformis geeft verlof om te bidden:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Verlicht ons duistere verstand<br />geef dat ons hart van liefde brandt,<br />en dat ons zwakke lichaam leeft<br />vanuit de kracht, die Gij het geeft.</span><br /><br />De creativiteit van de Pinkstergeest wil ons helemaal doordringen. Hij raakt ons hele bestaan: verstand, hart, lichaam.<br />In onze gefragmentariseerde cultuur, waar vertechnisering en een verrationaliseerde wetenschap gezorgd hebben voor de kaalslag van het leven, hebben New Age-propagandisten de wind in de zeilen, omdat ze opkomen voor de heelheid van het leven en mensen willen begeleiden naar de ervaring van een geheeld bestaan. Kerken weten daar vaak niet zo goed raad mee. Sommigen omhelzen dit denken als het antwoord op de crisis van onze tijd. Anderen bestoken het vanuit de luwte van een stoere orthodoxie.<br />Ik denk dat we deze pantheïserende stromingen alleen dan de wind uit de zeilen nemen, als we ons in ons individuele bestaan, in ons kerkelijk leven, in onze omgang met de cultuur laten sturen door de wind van de Heilige Geest. Pastoraat en diaconaat zullen daar wel bij varen.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Taal waarin wij God verstaan</span><br /><br />Dr. J. Koopmans maakt ergens de opmerking: ‘Op de Pinksterdag valt er het minst te zien, maar van alle dagen des heils valt er wellicht het meest te horen’. Als de Geest wordt uitgestort, komt het Woord aan het woord. In alle talen worden de grote daden van God vertolkt en gehoord. In de herdichting van Schulte Nordholt van het Veni Creator wordt dat wat vrij vertaald weergegeven in die prachtige regel: ‘o taal, waarin wij God verstaan...’. Dat betekent, zegt J.T. Bakker, dat God weer een woord wordt in de gewone mensentaal.<br />De Geest bindt zich niet aan één taal, laat staan aan één vertaling. Hij spreekt ons aan in onze moedertaal (Hand. 2:8).<br />En wat klinkt er nu vertrouwder dan je moedertaal. De grote geleerde Erasmus was gewoon zich in het Latijn uit te drukken, Vrienden die om zijn sterfbed stonden hoorden hem voortdurend steunen: ‘O, Jesu, misericordia; Domine libera me; Domine, miserere mei!. Maar zijn allerlaatste woord was een woord in zijn moedertaal: ’Lieve God’.<br />Taal, waarin wij God verstaan. De Heilige Geest als tolk (O. Noordmans). De taalbrug van Pinksteren bewerkt communicatie: een nieuwe gemeenschap van mensen die in een vaak vervreemdende wereld rondom het getuigenis van de Geest de weg tot God en tot elkaar vinden.<br />In onze cultuur is er met de taal van alles en nog wat aan de gang. We spreken in verschillende taalvelden. Soms schrik je van de wijze waarop de taal afgeplat wordt. Van de weeromstuit houden anderen het dan maar bij de geijkte taal van onze vaderen die gekoesterd en gecultiveerd wordt als een heilige taal. In beide gevallen raakt de communicatie zoek. Het is binnen de kerk vaak moeilijk om elkaar te verstaan. En we tillen terecht zwaar aan de vraag hoe we in de preken de kloof met onze cultuur kunnen overbruggen, hoe we God ter sprake kunnen brengen.<br />Die vragen worden ons niet bespaard. Want als God een woord wordt in gewone mensentaal, betekent het, dat de Geest zich van gewone mensen bedient. Dan gaan de vragen van vertaling en vertolking met ons mee. We zijn permanent bezig met spraakoefeningen. Maar dat houd je alleen maar vol binnen de ruimte van de Geest.<br />Geest en Woord<br />Leggen we naast de middeleeuwse hymne de herdichting van Luther dan valt je op dat Luther de verbinding tussen de Geest en het Woord accentueert. Het is de Geest, ‘Die ’s Vaders woord ons toevertrouwt, zodat het klinkt in ieders land’ (Gez. 239:4). De heldere melodie van de oude hymne aldus Beker-Hasselaar, wordt overgezet in de reformatorische toonsleutel: de Geest draagt de verkondiging van het Woord Gods en maakt haar effectief. Tegenover een dopers beroep op geestelijke ervaringen, los van de Schrift - en juist onze tijd is daar gevoelig voor - is het goed met de reformatoren te bedenken dat de Geest zich paart aan het Woord en tegelijk dat het diezelfde Geest is die de Schrift voor mensen tot een open boek maakt, een gids voor onderweg in ons aangevochten bestaan.<br />Want leven op de adem van de Geest is een onrustig bestaan. De gelovige is verwikkeld in een gevecht met de macht van de boze.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Verlos ons, als de vijand woedt,<br />geef, Heer, de vrede ons voorgoed,<br />Leid Gij ons voort, opdat geen kwaad,<br />geen ongeval ons leven schaadt.</span><br /><br />Ook zulke regels moeten Luther zeer aangesproken hebben. Want als er iemand van aanvechting wist dan hij. Maar met de kerk der eeuwen wist hij ook van de troost van de Geest die ons bewaart in de strijd en ons de wapenrusting van het Woord geeft.<br />Daarom is er temidden van alle strijd uitzicht op de volle vrede, de vreugde van het rijk dat komt. De laatste strofe verwoordt dit eschatologische uitzicht:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Doe ons de Vader en de Zoon<br />aanschouwen in de hoge troon,<br />o Geest, van beiden uitgegaan,<br />wij bidden U gelovig aan.</span><br /><br />Het smeekgebed heeft iets van een lofzang. Het verlangen wordt vervoegd in de modus van de aanbidding. Want de Geest is uitgestort als eersteling en onderpand van Gods grote toekomst.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Literatuur</span><br />Compendium bij de gezangen voor het liedboek, Amsterdam 1977.<br />C.P. van Andel, Tussen de regels. De samenhang van kerkgeschiedenis en kerklied, ’s Gravenhage 1977.<br />J.T. Bakker, Gezongen evangelie, Kampen 1990.<br />E.J. Beker-J.M. Hasselaar, Wegen en kruispunten in de dogmatiek, deel 4, Kampen 1987.<br />J. Koopmans, Nieuwe Postille, Nijkerk 1940.<br />G. van der Leeuw, Beknopte geschiedenis van het kerklied, Groningen 1939.<br />H. Vreekamp, Eerbied. De vreze des Heeren als bron van leven, Kampen 1984; genoemd citaat op blz 40.<br />[1] Gezang 237 is deze keer niet in z’n geheel afgedrukt omdat het vrijwel volledig in de tekst van dit artikel voorkomt.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-70292074513296724292008-04-29T19:25:00.001+02:002008-04-29T19:28:54.524+02:00Language of the SoulCommunicating with children is a challenge under the best of circumstances. And when we attempt to speak about the things that are the most important -- the inner feelings and character traits of our children -- the task seems almost overwhelming. How do we talk to our kids about things like love and kindness, faith and courage, honesty and trust? Though these are the things we most want to communicate to them, they are the most difficult to speak about.<br /> <br />The task becomes even more difficult because these virtues and character traits are not consistent. They tend to be fluid and abstract. They don't behave the same in every situation. Unrestrained kindness, while generous and flowing, is not always wise. Loyalty, while an exquisite quality, can lead our children astray when applied blindly.<br /> <br />But how to understand these subtleties clearly enough to begin to talk about them with our children? How, for example, to distinguish between the horror of violence and the necessity of war, the purity of honesty and the cruelty contained in speaking unnecessary truths, productive assertiveness and hostile aggressiveness?<br /> <br />To do so wisely requires an understanding of these qualities. And a language, a vocabulary for expressing their subtleties.<br /> <br />But where to find this language? How to explain these nuances?<br /> <br />There is a source that reveals itself to us specifically at this time of year. It is a language contained in "the counting of the omer", a mitzvah we perform in the forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot.<br /> <br />After the Children of Israel left Egypt, forty-nine days passed before they received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Tradition teaches that each of these days was necessary for the Children of Israel to refine themselves and be worthy of this gift. On each day they examined and corrected another of their inner traits and qualities. There were forty-nine in all.<br /> <br />These forty-nine traits were comprised of seven basic attributes. Each of the seven contained all of the other seven, thus comprising forty-nine.<br /> <br />The Kabbalists tell us that the soul of man includes these seven basic Attributes:<br /> <br />* Love/Kindness (Chessed)<br /> <br />* Vigor/Discipline (Gevurah)<br /> <br />* Beauty/Harmony/Compassion (Tiferet)<br /> <br />* Victory/Endurance/Determination (Netzach)<br /> <br />* Humility/Devotion (Hod)<br /> <br />* Foundation/Bonding/Connection (Yesod)<br /> <br />* Majesty/Dignity (Malchut)<br /> <br />As we fulfill the mitzvah of counting the days and weeks from Passover to Shavuot, each of the seven weeks is devoted to a different attribute -- one week for Kindness, another week for Discipline, another for Compassion, etc. On each of the seven days of the week we refine another of the seven aspects of the week's attribute. For example, on the week devoted to kindness we will devote one day to refining that aspect of kindness that requires discipline and another day to refining that aspect of kindness that requires compassion, and so forth. During the week we are refining beauty, we spend one day refining that aspect of beauty that requires dignity and another day on that aspect of beauty that requires humility, until we have refined all seven aspects of beauty.<br /> <br />Ultimately, all character traits derive from combinations of these seven basic ones. Each quality continually interacts with the others, and in so doing has the capacity to modify its expression and effect. To be whole, a character trait must incorporate all seven; a lack or overabundance of even one of the seven renders it corrupt and, in some cases, damaging. Discipline, for example, can easily become cruelty with but a slight exaggeration.<br /> <br />Knowing this, we can use these attributes to begin to distinguish and explain the characters and behaviors of our children and our selves. These attributes, which we count and refine in our forty-nine day journey, can be used as the foundation of a new language, a Language of the Soul.<br /> <br />This language will provide a vocabulary that allows us to both name, identify and then speak with our children about qualities that are non-tangible -- that cannot be touched nor seen -- but can be expressed in action.<br /> <br />If we learn to talk about these inner qualities with our children in clear, specific, and concrete ways, we have the possibility of penetrating their hearts and minds and opening their own ability to communicate with us from a deeper part of themselves.<br /> <br />Using the seven attributes as a guide we can speak to our children not only about what something is, but how it is that way. We cannot only define kindness, we can also describe what it looks like in action. Does it always look the same? Can the same act be kind in one situation and cruel in another? Can an act appear cruel and yet still be kind? How and why?<br /> <br />The expression of any of these seven attributes requires modification depending on circumstances and results in a variety of ways in which a particular quality might be expressed differently to meet a specific situation.<br /> <br />If being helpful is good, then why is helping someone steal not good? If being courageous is important, then why is doing something dangerous wrong? If being loyal is meritorious, then why not go along with the crowd even when I think they are doing something harmful? If tolerance results in a more peaceful world, then why must I sometimes stand against what someone does, or make a distinction between right and wrong?<br /> <br />As you explore each of these seven qualities and understand how they affect each other, you begin to see that the lack or addition of any of them dramatically shifts the meaning or expression of the others.<br /> <br />Though the essence of "love" is "giving," would a child be loving if he gave a book of matches to a young seven-year-old friend, or if she gave away without asking a toy that belongs to the child's brother or sister, or if he or she told a lie in order to prevent a friend from getting into trouble?<br /> <br />If you spend time reflecting on each of these seven -- kindness, discipline, compassion, endurance, humility, connection, and dignity -- and how they interact with each other you can use them like a check list to see which, if any, of these qualities is missing or in overabundance in any given situation. This will allow you to more easily talk about them with your children.<br /> <br />Let's look at assertiveness as an example. Many of us wish to encourage this trait in our children. It is an inner quality necessary for accomplishment and for independence (going against the crowd). Yet, we know that assertiveness borders on aggressiveness and can easily become a quality that is mis- or over-used resulting in some potentially nasty character traits. But how to explain this distinction to our children? Let's try to apply our seven attribute check list.<br /> <br />For example, what would assertiveness look like if it lacked the attribute of love or discipline? How often have you met someone who proclaims to be assertive, yet reeks of hostility? Can your child be both assertive and compassionate (understanding and considerate of the needs of others) at the same time?<br /> <br />On the one hand, being assertive can help your child to be independent and not follow the crowd. It may prevent him or her from being bullied. But without instilling humility and compassion in your child, how can you be assured that he or she will not become the next bully on the block? Without humility, even though your child's assertiveness may bring him success, might it also result in arrogance and pridefulness?<br /> <br />How effective will your child's assertiveness be if it lacks endurance? Why do some very assertive people -- passionately dedicated to their very worthwhile goal -- still lack the ability to accomplish much? Could it be that with all their strength and enthusiasm they lack endurance and discipline?<br /> <br />And how often have we met assertive, disciplined, committed people who lack openness to new ideas or the flexibility to respond to changing situations? Could it be that they lack a sense of connectedness to a large and ever-changing world? Do they fail to see that their actions effect this world in ways larger than themselves and that the world to which they are connected is constantly affecting them and their goals? Or, lacking this quality, do they tend towards a self-centered approach to life that may move them towards their individual goals at the expense of others and without a positive effect on the world around them.<br /> <br />And finally, upon acquiring assertiveness, your child should have a sense of dignity -- a sense of self-respect and of being worthy of the respect of others. When you think about it, would not this only be achieved if your child was able to be assertive in a loving, disciplined and compassionate manner, exercising endurance and humility, and realizing the consequences of his/her actions to both himself and others? Don't we all know assertive people who lack one of these qualities and consequently don't engender our respect? Doesn't your child have a schoolmate who seems to always get what he/she wants, yet is neither liked nor respected by the other children? Could you identify one or more of the seven attributes that this child is lacking? Can you see how a lack in any one of the basic seven attributes can quickly turn a positive quality into a negative one? Can you explain this to your child?<br /> <br />After reading the above paragraph, can you now imagine a discussion with your child in which you try to explain to him or her the difference between assertive and aggressive behavior using the seven attributes as your vocabulary?<br /> <br />If the above description has helped you understand assertiveness better, or has given you some insight into yourself or someone you know, then you have begun to see Language of the Soul in action. <br /> <br />References:<br /> <br />A Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer by Simon Jacobson<br /> <br />Ten Keys for Understanding Human Nature by Mattis Kantor<br /> <br />Mystical Concepts in Chassidism by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Shochet<br /> <br />The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the work of Rabbi Simon Jacobson to this article.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-9548904177401358382008-03-14T14:21:00.003+01:002008-03-14T14:26:01.907+01:00GilGal !De betekenis van het gebeuren te Gilgal... <br /><br />Bijbeltekst: Jozua 5:12 <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Inleiding</span> <br /><br />De spectaculaire en dramatische gebeurtenissen van de woestijntocht van het volk Israël, zoals beschreven in de boeken van Mozes, zijn voor velen bekende verhalen. Ik noem, bijvoorbeeld, te gebeuren te Mara, waar het bittere water zoet werd, de oase Elim met palmbomen en waterbronnen, de wetgeving op de Sinaï, de bouw van de tabernakel, de plaag van slangen, die aan duizenden het leven kostte en de opstand van Miriam, die melaats werd. Het voorval te Gilgal is minder bekend en de verstrekkende betekenis ervan ontgaat veel gelovigen. Het gebeuren te Gilgal was echter zeer belangrijk, want het was een laatste voorwaarde voor een succesvolle <br />verovering van het land Kanaän en de vervulling van Gods beloften. Voordat we kijken naar hetgeen er te Gilgal gebeurde en de betekenis ervan, geef ik eerst een kort overzicht van wat er was gebeurd voordat het volk zich in Gilgal legerde. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">De overtocht en de aankomst te Gilgal</span> <br /><br />Na een lange reis en veel moeilijkheden waren de Israëlieten eindelijk aangekomen bij het hun toegezegde land. Zij legerden zich aan de oostelijke oever van de Jordaan, die de natuurlijke grens van Kanaän vormt. Aan de overzijde zagen zij het heuvelachtige en hogere Kanaän liggen en de stad Jericho in de westelijke Jordaanvlakte. <br /><br />Maar hoe kom je met een volk, compleet met kinderen en dieren en veel goederen, zonder boot of iets anders de rivier over - probleem nummer zoveel. Op het juiste moment vond er echter stroomopwaarts in de Jordaan plotseling een zeer grote instorting van de oever plaats; zie Jozua 3:16, waardoor de benedenloop droog kwam te liggen. God sprak tot Jozua; wij lezen Jozua 3:7, "En de HERE zeide tot Jozua: Op deze dag zal Ik beginnen u groot te maken in de ogen van geheel Israël.... Beveel dat de priesters, die de ark van het verbond dragen, zodra gij gekomen zijt aan de oever van het water van de Jordaan, zult gij in de Jordaan blijven staan.... - vers 13b. Zodra dan de voetzolen van de priesters, die de ark van het verbond dragen, in het water van de Jordaan rusten, zal het water van de Jordaan afgesneden worden, het water, dat van boven afkomt, zal als een dam blijven staan." Vers 16, "Het water... bleef staan, het rees op als een dam, zeer ver weg bij Adam." <br /><br />Het was een wonder van timing. De Jordaan kwam geheel droog te liggen en zonder enig probleem kon het gehele volk aan de overkant komen. Toen het bericht hierover tot de stammen doordrong waren zij volkomen verrast en ontzet. Wij lezen in Jozua 5:1, "Zodra alle Kanaänieten hoorden dat de HEER de wateren van de Jordaan voor het aangezicht van de Israëlieten had doen opdrogen, totdat zij erdoor waren getrokken, versmolt hun hart en zij hadden geen moed meer vanwege de Israëlieten." Als bewijs van deze overtocht werd er midden in de Jordaanbedding een grote hoop stenen opgericht, die nog lang na dit gebeuren zichtbaar moet zijn geweest. <br />Aan de overkant, in het Westjordaanse land, maakten de Israëlieten een nieuw kampement en noemden het Gilgal, dat waarschijnlijk 'rollen' of 'afwentelen' betekent. Zie vers 9, waar God verklaart dat de 'smaad van Egypte' van haar afgewenteld is. <br /><br />De overtocht over de Jordaan was een machtige demonstratie van Gods kracht en timing geweest; zie Jozua 3 en 4. De stammen in en rondom Kanaän moeten hebben gedacht: "Wij zijn veilig hier in het land aan de westzijde van de Jordaan, want dit nomadenvolkje Israël komt er nooit over. Het water is te diep, er is geen brug, er is geen veerdienst, er is geen hout aanwezig waarmee zij vlotten kunnen maken, zij hebben geen middelen waardoor het mogelijk is over die rivier te komen met hun vrouwen, kinderen, dieren en al hun goederen. "Israël, vergeet het maar, je komt er nooit over. Wij zijn veilig hier in Kanaän." Deze heidense volkeren kenden echter nog niet voldoende de kracht en de mogelijkheden van de God van Israël. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Te Gilgal....</span> <br /><br />De Israëlieten waren ongetwijfeld in een opperbeste stemming na die succesvolle en gemakkelijke overtocht door de droog gevallen bedding van de Jordaan. Wie had durven dromen dat die rivier droog kwam te liggen op het moment dat Jozua door een profetisch woord van God het volk gereed maakte voor de overtocht? Zij erkenden dat dit het werk van hun machtige God moest zijn geweest - er was geen twijfel mogelijk. Nu keken zij naar het gebied dat zij moesten innemen, het was hun beloofd. Hun geloof in een gemakkelijke overwinning van de heidense stammen was ongetwijfeld tot recordhoogte geklommen, de mannen waren paraat voor de strijd en sommigen liepen waarschijnlijk al met hun wapenen rond.<br /> <br />Er stond echter iets totaal onverwachts te gebeuren, dat alle mannen enige tijd ongeschikt voor de strijd maakte, een pijnlijke ervaring, die hen enkele dagen op bed deed liggen, zij moesten besneden worden. U moet begrijpen dat we hier te maken hebben met de jonge generatie, waarvan de meesten in de woestijn waren geboren. In de woestijn was geen babyjongetje besneden. Nu waren er mannen tot de leeftijd van veertig jaar, die niet volgens het gebruik bij hun geboorte de besnijdenis hadden ondergaan, maar dat moest nu gaan gebeuren, zo wist Jozua van de HEER. <br />"Alle mensen, moet dat nu gebeuren," hoor ik de mannen verzuchten, "had dat nou niet aan de andere kant van de Jordaan kunnen plaats vinden, daar hebben we maanden gelegen en hadden we alle tijd. Nu willen we ertegen aan gaan en die goddeloze Kanaänieten verdrijven. Jozua, man, weet wat je ons aandoet. Straks komen die Kanaänieten hier, terwijl we met pijn op bed liggen en maken ons allen af." Maar Jozua was sterk en hield vol dat de Here het geboden had en dus ondergingen allen de pijnlijke ingreep. <br /><br />Christenen behoeven zich niet te laten besnijden om de tegenwoordigheid en kracht van God te ervaren, dat wordt duidelijk in het Nieuwe Testament geleerd. Er zijn voor ons, Nieuw Testamentische gelovigen, kostbare, diepzinnige, heerlijke, maar ook pijnlijke lessen te leren uit dit verhaal. Ik noem er enkele en zal deze verkondigend en onderwijzend uitwerken. De besnijdenis zien we als een typebeeld van een geestelijke waarheid. Onthoud deze waarheid: <br />De Besnijdenis is een illustratie van de kruisiging van de oude, zondige natuur en van de voorwaarde voor een vernieuwd leven. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Besnijdenis</span> <br /><br />In Gilgal werden de mannen besneden en het volk moest er blijven tot zij hersteld waren van deze ingrijpende en pijnlijke chirurgische ingreep. <br />Israëlieten waren (en zijn het nog) er trots op dat zij besneden waren, want dat gaf hen de identiteit van het Verbondsvolk van God. Maar Joden die dieper nadachten wisten reeds onder het Oude Verbond dat de besnijdenis van het lichaam niets betekent als het hart niet besneden is. Ik lees uit Jeremia 4:4, "Besnijdt u voor de HEER en doet weg de voorhuid van uw hart, gij mannen van Juda en inwoners van Jeruzalem." En in Jeremia 9:25 schreef hij over hen, die besneden waren, maar toch de voorhuid nog hadden. Hiermee bedoelde hij de mannen, die een kwaad, vleselijk en ongehoorzaam hard hadden en de ware vrees voor God niet kenden. <br />Paulus werkte dit inzicht uit in de Romeinenbrief. Ik citeer 2:25, "Want besneden te zijn heeft wel betekenis, indien gij de wet volbrengt. Maar indien gij een overtreder van de wet zijt - en wie is dat niet - is uw besnijdenis tot onbesnedenheid geworden." Duidelijke taal, dacht ik, en dat nog wel van een rasechte Jood, zoals Paulus was! <br /><br />De besnijdenis van de kinderen Israëls te Gilgal kan als typebeeld worden beschouwd van de besnijdenis van het hart van de kinderen Gods, de gelovigen in de gemeente van Jezus Christus; zie Colossenzen 2: 11-15, waar we lezen: "In Hem zijt gij ook met een besnijdenis, die geen werk van mensenhanden is, besneden door het afleggen van het lichaam van het vlees." Deze besnijdenis wordt gesymboliseerd door de doop, zie vers 12, "Daar gij met Hem begraven zijt in de doop." <br />U, jij en ik, dienen er ons ook op te bezinnen dat de doop, de onderdompeling, geen echte waarde heeft als ons hart onveranderd blijft, of zoals het onder het Oude Verbond met Israël heette, als wij onbesneden van hart blijven. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Herstel </span><br /><br />Er mocht geen begin gemaakt worden met de verovering van het land, tot allen van de besnijdenis hersteld waren en in staat waren om keihard te strijden, niet gehinderd door `het vlees.' Jozua 5:8. <br />De tijd van herstel van deze mannen in het kamp was een tijd van rust. Wij, als Christenen, dienen ons ook regelmatig te bezinnen op onze identiteit als kind van God. Leef ik vanuit een gereinigd, geheiligd hart of ben ik vleselijk bezig? Leef ik als een onbesnedene? Heel veel Christenen, en echt niet alleen jongere, zijn ontrouw aan de doopbelofte. Wat hield die ook weer in? Zijn we dat vergeten, het lijkt er soms wel op. De doopbelofte was: Ik ga leven voor Christus en wil Hem volgen. Ik ga leven uit zijn kracht als een vernieuwd mens.' Wow - dat is nog al wat, en dat zal iedereen hier wel 'in de gaten' hebben gekregen. In Gilgal is er een tijd van rust, van bezinning, van vernieuwde oriëntatie op de betekenis en de gevolgen van onze doop, de besnijdenis van ons hart. Vanmorgen heeft de hemelse Leider, de Heilige Geest, ons te Gilgal gebracht. Hij zegt: Hé, blijf hier eventjes, denk na, bezin je op de betekenis van de doop en begrijp de consequenties ervan. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Smaad en vloek verwijderd</span> <br /><br />De schande en de schuld zowel overgedragen door vroegere generaties, als van de huidige, moest worden verwijderd; zie Jozua 5:9. <br />Kleefde hun nog smaad aan, terwijl zij toch Gods volk waren? Ja, zij waren niet volledig gehoorzaam geweest aan Gods instellingen. Let er op dat we hier te maken hebben met de tweede generatie van het volk. Toch kleefde ook deze generatie de smaad van ongehoorzaamheid en rebellie. Er moest nu, staande voor de laatste en belangrijkste opdracht: Het beloofde land in bezit te gaan nemen, een diepe verootmoediging, reiniging en bevrijding plaats vinden.<br /> <br />Gilgal was een prachtig nieuwe start voor de kinderen van Israël. De besnijdenis maakte dat de vloek en de smaad, de smet van afgoderij, occultisme, verkeerde leringen en slaafse intimidatie verbroken werden. De HEER wentelde alles van hen af. Ik zag de Israëlieten opstaan van hun bedden, de pijn van de besnijdenis was weg, alles was genezen en dat zonder moderne verband- en geneesmiddelen, tetanus injecties, antibiotica en weet ik wat nog meer. Zij stonden op, rekten zich uit en zeiden tot elkaar: "Ik voel me een stuk beter, ik voel me goed. Ik voel me vrij. De Heer is hier. Ik ervaar kracht en heb zin er tegenaan te gaan voor Hem. Het lijkt inderdaad alsof negatieve, duistere machten zijn verbroken!" Wow, wat een heerlijk besef. Wat een geweldig gevoel. <br /><br />Let op: Om je zo te voelen, zo vrij en blij in Christus, dien je niet slechts gedoopt te zijn, maar ook met je gehele hart ernaar te leven. Heilig, rein, vervuld van de Geest van God. Het is de moeite waar om nog even in Gilgal te blijven, totdat je dit geheel door hebt en het wilt uitvoeren. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Het Manna kwam niet meer </span><br /><br />Het manna hield op te komen. Het manna, de gemakkelijke voorziening van voedsel, bezorgde hen als het ware, het brood in de mond. Nu stopte deze voorziening. Zij moesten gaan leven van de opbrengst van het land en er dus voor werken; Jozua 5:12. <br />Er zijn in het geestelijk groeiproces van de gelovige ook opeenvolgende stadia. Er zijn velerlei voorzieningen van God voor onze geestelijke groei naar volwassenheid in het geloof. Wij moeten ons echter nooit op één aspect blijven fixeren. Wij dienen open te staan voor veranderingen, ook al zijn die soms voor ons vlees onaangenaam. Gilgal was en blijft voor het vlees onaangenaam, pijnlijk, maar het opent wel de deur naar een krachtige vernieuwing! Als Gods beloften in vervulling gaan moeten we paraat zijn voor nieuwe uitdagingen en voorzieningen. Dit is ook een belangrijk beginsel: God doet wonderen als niets anders ons kan helpen, als er geen andere mogelijkheid is. De woestijn was onvruchtbaar, dus kwam er manna. Het beloofde land is wel vruchtbaar, dus eet ervan! Dan moeten we niet om broodjes uit de hemel blijven vragen, maar aan de slag gaan en de belofte als het ware plukken! Het ophouden van het manna is een typebeeld van geestelijke groei naar een grotere mate van volwassenheid en bruikbaarheid. Tot op dit moment hadden zij in een meer kinderlijke afhankelijkheid geleefd, nu moesten zij als ontvangers van de belofte, nemen van de vrucht! <br /><br />In welk geestelijk stadium bent u, ben jij? In het meer kinderlijke of in het volwassener? Pauilus schreef in 2 Cor. 1:20 dat al Gods beloften in Christus, 'Ja' en 'Amen' zijn. God roept u via de weg van het kruis van Christus in uw leven, dat is uw Gilgal, tot grotere bruikbaarheid en vruchtbaarheid. De uitdaging is: Benut de nieuwe mogelijkheden, die God u biedt! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Gilgal bleef centraal </span><br /><br />Eenmaal besneden en hersteld, konden er voorbereidingen voor de inname van Jericho, een machtig bolwerk in die tijd, worden gemaakt. Elke dag keerde men naar Gilgal terug, waar het kamp was gelegerd en de tabernakel bleef staan met de continuatie van de priesterdiensten; zie Jozua 6:11. Telkens weer zal de gelovige zich dienen te bepalen bij en zich te bezinnen op de besnijdenis van zijn hart; opdat de gezindheid van Christus in hem zal regeren. <br /><br />Gilgal bleef dan ook langere tijd het hoofdkwartier, van waaruit de verovering werd ondernomen.; zie Jozua 9:6, 10:6, 10:15, 14:6. Zij bleef het centrale hoofdkwartier totdat Silo was ingenomen; zie Jozua 18:1. <br />Zo zal er ook na de kruisiging van het vlees, dat is de besnijdenis van ons vlees en na de overwinning over alle zonde- en demonische machten, een nieuw centrum voor aanbidding van God in ons leven en in de gemeente ontstaan. Silo, waar rust is, waar aanbidding is, maar men God ervaart op een zeer ontspannen en verheven wijze. <br />Galaten 2:20 zal de centrale waarheid blijven ons gehele leven hier op aarde, terwijl we toeleven naar de vervulling van al Gods beloften: "Ik ben met Christus gekruisigd, en toch leef ik, dat is niet meer mijn ik, maar Christus leeft in mij. En voor zover ik nu nog in het vlees leef, leef ik door het geloof in de Zoon van God, die mij heeft liefgehad en Zich voor mij heeft overgegeven." <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Toepassing, oproep </span><br /><br />God wil ons allen, die geloven, eerst te Gilgal houden voor de besnijdenis van ons hart en dan kan Hij ons, bekrachtigd door zijn Geest, leiden van overwinning tot overwinning. Dan worden boosaardige, onreine machten vernietigd en Gods beloften gaan in vervulling. Als vanzelf, zou ik haast zeggen, komen we in de verheven plaats van lofprijs, aanbidding en genieten van Gods tegenwoordigheid. Kom dus telkens terug te Gilgal, de plaats van het sterven van het vlees, maar ook de plaats waar God woont en zijn heerlijkheid zichtbaar aanwezig is. Bezin u regelmatig op de waarheid van Galaten 2:20, "Met Christus ben ik gestorven, en toch leef, dat is Christus in mij." <br />Ik roep u op: Ontwijk Gilgal niet. Onderwerp u aan de geestelijke noodzakelijkheid van Gilgal en kom er regelmatig terug. Blijf enkele dagen in Gilgal totdat u weet dat uw hart vernieuwd is door de Geest van de Heer. Tijdens de strijd om de verovering van het land, was de Heer tegenwoordig in Gilgal; zijn Shekinah heerlijkheid vervulde zijn heiligdom. Dit mag u ook weten: Hij is aanwezig; Zijn heerlijkheid en genade rust op de mens, die zich besneden weet in de dood van Christus.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-82916939428284913652008-03-14T14:15:00.002+01:002008-03-14T14:19:43.815+01:00The Wood Offering(Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson)<br /><br />In the commentary of Toras Kohanim on the Torah portion of Vayikra , our Sages note that a gift of wood for use upon the altar may constitute a valid sacrificial offering.<br /><br />How can a mere adjunct to the actual offerings constitute a valid offering in itself?<br /><br />The Ramban explains the significance of offerings in the following manner:<br />The person who brings an animal sacrifice must realize that all those things being done to the animal should by right have been done to him. It is only because of G-d's mercy that an animal is substituted.<br /><br />Thus, the intent of one bringing an animal sacrifice should be to offer himself to G-d. This also serves to explain why every sacrifice had to be consumed together with the wood of the altar:<br /><br />There are various types of sacrifices, each possessing its own laws as to the manner in which it is to be offered. According to the Ramban , we may understand the differences in the laws according to the effect the particular offering has upon the individual who brings it. This depends, of course, on the reason the offering is brought - whether it is an expiation offering, a free-will offering, etc.<br /><br />On the other hand, the essence of every sacrifice is the offering of the person himself ; the person must be prepared to dedicate himself entirely to G-d. It is only then that each form of offering fulfills its purpose.<br /><br />That all offerings share this attribute is symbolized by the wood that is consumed together with every sacrifice: the wood provides the constant subtext of every offering - that the person offers himself to G-d.<br /><br />The Torah tells us that "Man is a tree of the field."3 Man's offering of himself to G-d is thus expressed by means of wood. One of the differences between man's "general offering" that finds expression in the consumption of wood upon the altar, and the "particular offering" of man's individual powers (symbolized by the various sacrifices) is the following:<br /><br />When a person offers a particular part of himself, he cannot free himself entirely of his ego, for his self-abnegation and devotion to G-d refer only to this particular part of himself. The remaining components in every personality conceal and hinder a person's selfless devotion to G-d.<br /><br />When a person realizes that, regardless of the particular nature of his sacrifice, he is offering himself totally to G-d, there is nothing left within him to act as a barrier. The person then can dedicate himself in a manner that transcends intellect or emotion - even holy intellect and emotiondrs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-36210084219748635522008-02-28T12:03:00.000+01:002008-02-28T12:04:43.364+01:00A Dwelling Among Mortals<span style="font-weight:bold;">1. A Contradiction in Terms<br /> </span><br />When dedicating the Beis Hamikdash, King Shlomo exclaimed in wonderment: “Will G-d indeed dwell on this earth? The heavens and the celestial heights cannot contain You, how much less this house!” For the Beis Hamikdash was not merely a centralized location for man’s worship of G-d, it was a place where G-d’s Presence was — and is — manifest. Although “the entire earth is full of His glory,” G-d’s Presence is not tangibly felt. He permeates all existence, but in a hidden way. The Beis Hamikdash, by contrast, was “the place where He chose to cause His name to dwell.” There was no concealment; His Presence was openly manifest.<br /> <br />This seems impossible; there is no apparent way that spirituality can be openly manifest in our material world. For material existence to come into being, G-d condensed and contracted His light and life-energy so that it could become enclothed in material entities. This is absolutely necessary; were G-dly light to be revealed without restraint, it would nullify all matter.<br /> <br />To allow for our world to continue in a stable manner, G-d structured this process of self-containment with laws and principles as binding as those governing nature. He brought into being an entire framework of spiritual worlds whose purpose is to convey Divine energy from level to level until it undergoes the degree of contraction necessary to be enclothed in material form. An open revelation of G-dliness runs contrary to this entire pattern, defying the limits which He Himself established.<br /> <br />Nevertheless, although G-d limited the extent of His revelation when structuring the world, He did not limit Himself. He created a world with set bounds, but He Himself is not bound by them, and can alter them at will. He can invest His Presence in our material realm, and did so in the Sanctuary and in the Beis HaMikdash.<br /> <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. In G-d’s Inner Chamber</span><br /> <br />The Divine Presence was revealed in the Holy of Holies, where an ongoing miracle reflected the nature of the revelation in the Beis HaMikdash. The width of the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits. The Ark of the Covenant, positioned lengthwise in the chamber, was two and one half cubits long, yet there were ten cubits from either edge of the ark to the wall. In other words, the physical ark occupied no space! <br /> <br />In the Beis HaMikdash, precise measurement was a necessity. Even a slight deviation from the required dimensions would render an article or building invalid. The fact that the place of the ark transcended the limits of space thus represents a fusion of finiteness and infinity. This communicates the nature of G-d’s Being. He transcends both finiteness and infinity, and yet manifests Himself in both. <br /> <br />This is the Torah’s intent when speaking of G-d “choos[ing] a place for His name to dwell”: the physical limits of our world will not be negated, yet the spiritual will be revealed. And this fusion of opposites will enable us to become conscious of His essence, which transcends — and encompasses — both the physical and the spiritual.<br /> <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. What Man Contributes<br /> </span><br />G-d did not want this revelation to be dependent on His influence alone. As reflected in the verse: “And you shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within,” He chose to make the revelation of His Presence dependent on man’s activity. Since any revelation of G-d’s Presence transcends the limits of our existence, the initiative must come from Him. Nevertheless, “G-d did not have His Presence rest upon Israel until they performed labor” — building the Sanctuary where His Presence would dwell.<br /> <br />Why was man’s activity necessary? Because G-d’s intent is that the revelation of His Presence be internalized within the world, becoming part of the fabric of its existence. Were the revelation to come only from above, it would merely nullify worldliness. To cite a parallel: when G-d revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, the world ground to a standstill. “No bird chirped... nor did an ox bellow, nor the sea roar.” Although G-dliness was revealed within the world, material existence did not play a contributory role.<br /> <br />When, by contrast, the dwelling for G-d is built by man — himself part of the material world — the nature of the materials used is elevated. This enables G-d’s Presence to be revealed within these entities while they continue to exist within their own context.<br /> <br />When a revelation of G-dliness comes from above, it is dependent on His influence, and is therefore temporary. For example, when G-d descended on Mount Sinai, the mountain became holy and therefore, “all that ascend the mountain must die.” When, however, G-d’s Presence was withdrawn from the mountain, the Jews were allowed to ascend it, for the fundamental nature of the mountain had not changed; it remained an ordinary mountain.<br /> <br />With regard to the Sanctuary — and to a greater extent the Beis HaMikdash — holiness became a permanent part of their own being. And thus on the verse: “I will lay waste to your Sanctuaries,” our Sages commented: “Even though they have been devastated, their sanctity remains.” And therefore, it is forbidden to ascend to the site of the Beis HaMikdash in the present age.<br /> <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Two Phases</span><br /> <br />The above concepts are highlighted by the name of the Torah reading. Terumah, meaning “lifting up” or “separation,” puts the focus on man’s attempts to establish a dwelling for G-d. The Torah proceeds to state that this terumah must involve 13 different articles: gold, silver, brass.... This indicates that man’s task is to incorporate the various elements of worldly existence into G-d’s dwelling. <br /> <br />More particularly, the double interpretation of the name Terumah reflects two factors necessary in creating a dwelling for G-d. First, a person must designate his gift, separating it from his other worldly property. And then through its consecration, its nature becomes elevated above the ordinary material plane. <br /> <br />These two phases relate to the two services mentioned in the verse, “turn away from evil and do good.” When a person prepares a dwelling for a king, he must first clean it. Afterwards, he brings in attractive articles. Similarly, to make our world a dwelling for G-d, “separation” is necessary to purge the self-orientation encouraged by worldly existence. Only then is the world “elevated,” becoming a medium to draw down G-d’s light.<br /> <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Not an Island</span><br /> <br />The Beis Hamikdash was not intended to be an isolated corner of holiness. Instead, its windows were designed to spread light outward. For the holiness of the Beis Hamikdash was intended to illuminate the world.<br /> <br />The most complete expression of this concept will come in the Era of the Redemption. From “the mountain of G-d’s house” will spread forth light and holiness, motivating all people to learn G-d’s ways and “walk in His paths.” <br /> <br />These revelations are dependent on our efforts to encourage the manifestation of the Divine Presence. Making our homes and our surroundings “sanctuaries in microcosm” will cause G-d to reveal His Presence in the world.<br /> <br />(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. III, p. 902; Vol. XVI, p. 286ff; Vol. XXI, p. 146ff)drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-38686376905238019302008-02-28T11:59:00.000+01:002008-02-28T12:01:07.302+01:00Towards A Purpose Beyond Our Conception<span style="font-weight:bold;">For Man to Become More than Man</span><br /><br />To answer this question, we must expand our conceptual framework, for the state to which G-d desires to bring mankind is above ordinary human conception. This is indicated by the very expression: “When you lift up the heads”; “the heads,” human intellect, must be elevated.<br /><br />The essence of our souls is “an actual part of G-d from above,”4 and G-d desires that man transcend himself and experience this Divine potential. Moreover, the intent is not merely that we rise above our human intellect, but that we “lift up the heads” themselves, reshape our minds. Tasting a superrational connection to G-d is not sufficient; our very thoughts, the way we understand the world, must encompass a Truth which transcends intellect.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A Journey Charted by G-d</span><br /><br />Intellect is a crossroads. On one hand, it is the faculty which enables humanity to grow and expand its horizons. On the other hand, a mortal’s intellect is by definition limited. Moreover, all intellect is rooted in self; the more one understands, the stronger one’s sense of selfhood becomes.<br /><br />Following one’s own understanding can lead to seeing material existence or at least certain aspects of it as being apart from G-d. Our minds can understand how certain entities and experiences might serve as conduits for the expression of G-dliness. Other material entities and practices, however, appear to be foreign to that purpose, and we reject the possibility that they might also serve this function.<br /><br />Taking this approach to the extreme, some modes of Divine service endeavor to avoid confronting material existence altogether, staying instead within the realm of the spiritual. Although there are certain virtues to this approach, it contains an inherent shortcoming: It encourages the notion that material reality exists apart from holiness.5<br /><br />The ultimate truth the “heights” to which Jewish heads should be lifted is that every aspect of existence can express the truth of His Being.6 This is reflected in the Torah’s description of Avraham’s efforts to spread the awareness of G-d’s existence:7 “And he proclaimed there the name of G-d, eternal L-rd.” The verse does not state א-ל העולם “G-d of the world,”8 which would imply that G-d is an entity unto Himself and the world is a separate entity unto itself. Instead, it states א-ל עולם, implying that G-dliness and the world are one.<br /><br />Even after this thrust is accepted, however, there exist certain aspects of being that appear separate from Him. Is there G-dliness in evil, for example? And if so, how can man cause this G-dliness to be revealed?<br /><br />Although mortals cannot conceive of a meeting point between evil and sanctity, G-d can. Indeed, He charts paths leading each individual, and the world at large, to such an intersection. With Divine Providence, He creates situations into which no righteous man would enter voluntarily, forcing the righteous to become involved with (and thus elevate) the most base material concerns.<br /><br />This is the intent of the command to “lift up the heads of the children of Israel”; that even within the realm characterized by separation, evil and self, there may flourish an awareness of G-d’s unbounded spiritual truth.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">G-d’s Awesome Intrigue<br /></span><br />In this vein, Chassidic thought describes sin as,9 “an awesome intrigue devised against man.” Jews by nature are above any connection with sin.10 If a person’s yetzer hora overcomes him and makes him sin, this is because the yetzer hora was prompted from Above to bring him to this act. This is purposeful, “an awesome intrigue” devised by G-d to bring about a higher and more complete unity between G-d, that individual, and the world at large.<br /><br />In his explanation of our Sages’ statement11 that “In the place of baalei teshuvah, even the completely righteous cannot stand,” the Rambam states12 that baalei teshuvah are on a higher level because “they conquer their [evil] inclination more.” The righteous do not have to struggle so hard against their evil inclination; to the extent that they are righteous, their evil inclination is nullified.13 A baal teshuvah, by contrast, possesses a powerful evil inclination as evidenced by his sin and yet still desires to cling to G-d.<br /><br />Moreover, our Sages teach14 that teshuvah transforms even sins which a person commits intentionally into merits. This elevates the lowest aspects of existence which derive sustenance from the realm of kelipah and brings them into a bond with G-d.<br /><br />Why does a baal teshuvah have the potential to elevate aspects of existence which are by nature distant from G-dliness? Because in order to strive for teshuvah, a person must tap his deepest spiritual resources, that soul which is “an actual part of G-d.” When he reaches this point, he is able to appreciate that nothing is apart from Him. And in his life, he is able to show how every element of existence expresses His Truth.<br /><br />This process is an example of the pattern, “a descent for the purpose of an ascent.”15 Our climb to those peaks which our intellect cannot reach on its own involves a descent to levels which our intellect would normally reject.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Three Phases</span><br /><br />Based on the above, we can appreciate the sequence of parshas Ki Sissa. The purpose the ascent of the Jewish people is stated in the opening verse. Afterwards, the reading continues with the final commands for the construction and dedication of the Sanctuary, the incense offering and the giving of the First Tablets. All these subjects reflect a connection to G-d above the limits of ordinary experience.<br /><br />In order for that connection to penetrate the worldly realm, and to have it permeate even the lowest aspects of existence, follows the narrative of the Sin of the Golden Calf and the breaking of the Tablets. This terrible fall motivated the Jewish people to turn to G-d in teshuvah, evoking a third phase16 the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy a totally unbounded level of G-dliness that encompasses even the lowest levels.<br /><br />This highest peak finds expression in the giving of the Second Tablets17 and the final event mentioned in this week’s Torah reading, the shining of Moshe’s countenance.18<br /><br />The shining of Moshe’s face manifested the ultimate fusion of the physical and the spiritual. G-dly light shone from Moshe’s physical body.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">And Ultimately, Ascents Without Descent</span><br /><br />Similar cycles of descent and ascent have shaped the history of our people. The aim of this process is a final union between the spiritual and the material the Era of the Redemption, when “the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the ocean bed.”19<br /><br />When seen in this context, all the years of exile appear as merely “a fleeting moment.”20 For exile has no purpose in and of itself; it is merely a means by which to evoke a deeper connection to G-d, and a medium which enables that bond to permeate every aspect of experience. When this purpose is accomplished, the exile will conclude; to quote the Rambam:21 “The Torah has promised that ultimately, at the end of her exile, Israel will repent and immediately be redeemed.”<br /><br />And then will begin a never-ending ascent, as it is written:22 “They will proceed from strength to strength, and appear before G-d in Zion.”drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-52964244676874986442008-02-28T11:48:00.001+01:002008-02-28T11:50:18.505+01:00VayakhelIn collaboration with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - From the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe<br /><br />Vayakhel begins with Moses assembling the Israelites on the day after Yom Kippur, to repeat to them the commandment of Shabbat. The passage raises several questions, especially in its use of the passive in the phrase, "Six days shall work be done." In its explanations, the Sicha touches on one of the greatest paradoxes of the life of faith. If G-d is the source of all blessings, why work in order to live? And if we do work, how can we avoid the thought that it is our labor alone that produces material results? We seem torn between absolute passivity and the denial of G-d's involvement in the world. The Rebbe develops the important concept of "passive labor" in which this contradiction is resolved, and a new understanding of the inner meaning of Shabbat emerges.<br /><br />1. The Assembly<br /><br />The Sidra of Vayakhel begins in the following way: "And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them: 'These are the words which the L-rd has commanded, that you should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the L-rd..'"<br /><br />This raises several questions and points of detail, some of which are mentioned by the commentators.<br /><br />Firstly, why is the word "assembled" ( Vayakhel) used? The more usual expression would be, "And Moses spoke to all the congregation," as indeed we find several verses later, in the context of the donations for the Sanctuary.<br /><br />Secondly, the passage says, "These are the words which the L-rd has commanded," but it does not specify what they are. Most commentators take it as referring to the offerings for the building of the Sanctuary, but this is difficult to maintain. For before these offerings are spoken of, the Torah repeats, "And Moses spoke to all the congregation," suggesting that this was the subject of a separate discourse. The implication would seem to be that the "words which the L-rd has commanded" refer to what immediately follows, namely the prohibition of work on the Shabbat. But this raises the further difficulty that the observance of the Shabbat had already been included amongst the Ten Commandments.<br /><br />Thirdly, what is the significance of the repetitive phrase, shabbat shabbaton, translated in English as "a sabbath of solemn rest?"<br /><br />Fourthly, Rashi, the Talmud, the Midrash1 and the Zohar2 all make the comment that this assembly took place on the morrow of Yom Kippur, when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai (with the second tablets of stone). This suggests that there is a connection between the assembly and Yom Kippur, whose essence is, as its name implies, kippur, or atonement. This was the day when G-d said to Moses, "I have forgiven according to your word," which was the atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf. What, then, is the connection?<br /><br />2. Passive Labor<br /><br />As a first step towards answering these questions, we must consider the remarks of the commentators about the passive form of the verb in the phrase, "Six days shall work be done." Had it been in the active, "Six days shall you work," it would suggest an involvement or preoccupation with the work. The passive suggests that the work will be done, as it were, by itself. The Mechilta comments on this verse: "When Israel performs the will of the Al-mighty, their work is done for them by others." Literally, this refers to a blessing conferred by Heaven, but the comment can also be taken to indicate an attitude that the Jew should adopt in the course of his service towards G-d. It means that during the six days of his work, he should be occupied, but not preoccupied by the secular.<br /><br />In the Psalms3 it is written: "If you will eat the labor of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you." The Chassidic interpretation4 is that the labor in which man engages for his material needs (so that "you will eat") should be only "of your hands," an activity of the outer man, not an inward involvement. His thoughts and feelings must remain bound up with Torah and its commandments. Only then "will you be happy and it will be well with you." As the Sages say,5 "You will be happy-in this world-and it will be well for you-in the World to Come."<br /><br />This interpretation can also be applied to the phrase, "Six days shall work be done." The passive form of the verb indicates that heart and mind are elsewhere-involved in the Torah-and only man's practical faculties are engaged in the work. And even they are concerned only to make the work a "vessel" for the blessings of G-d. This is what the Torah means when it says; "And the L-rd your G-d will bless you in all that you do." Man is not sustained by his own efforts, but through G-d's blessing. His work merely provides a natural channel for this blessing, and he must remember that it is no more than a channel. Though his hands prepare it, his eyes must remain focused on the source of the blessing.<br /><br />Man should really not be allowed to work. For of G-d it is said, "I fill the heavens and the earth" and "The whole earth is full of His glory." The proper response to the ever-present nature of G-d would be to stand in absolute passivity. To do otherwise would be to be guilty of what the Rabbis called6 "making signs before the King," of the presumption of making one's presence felt. It is only because the Torah itself permits, indeed commands, us to work that it becomes legitimate; when it says, "Six days shall you work" and "The L-rd your G-d will bless you in all that you do."The Torah permits that which is necessary work. To go beyond that would be, in the first place, to show a lack of faith that human sustenance comes from G-d. And secondly, it would be to make one's presence felt in the face of G-d an act of rebellion.<br /><br />3. The Meaning of "Labor"<br /><br />In the light of this, it becomes difficult to understand the expression of the Psalms, "the labor of your hands." For the work of the Jew in the secular world is only as a preparation for G-d's blessing, and lacks an inner involvement. There is, however, a psychological principle7 that work which one enjoys is not tiring, whereas even a small effort towards what one does not enjoy is exhausting. The Jew, therefore, whose pleasures are spiritual, and whose engagement in the material world is forced upon him, finds it an exhaustion. Even though it is a positive command8 that "Six days you shall labor," the labor itself, however detached he is from it, distracts him from the spiritual, and is therefore felt to be a tiring labor.<br /><br />4. The Double Shabbat<br /><br />This, then, is the inner meaning of "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest,"-the six days are a necessary preface to the seventh. For the Shabbat to be a day of solemn rest, it must be preceded by work, and the work itself must be passive, with the true focus of one's attention elsewhere. It is written,9 "On the Shabbat, a man should regard himself as if all his work were complete." If, during the six days, he had been preoccupied with material concerns, on the seventh day anxieties will invade him and he will not be able to clear his mind to "gaze at the glory of the King" in Torah and prayer. He has opened the door to distractions, and they will intrude upon his will. But if he has given his work its proper place during the week, the light of Shabbat will illuminate him, and it will be shabbat shabbaton-a Shabbat twice over. For Shabbat will then permeate his whole week,10 and when the day itself arrives it will have a double sanctity.<br /><br />Our third question is therefore answered. And the second is also solved: Even though the observance of Shabbat as such had been previously commanded, the opening verses of Vayakhel explain how the spirit of Shabbat is achieved.<br /><br />5. The Origin of Idolatry<br /><br />The connection between the assembly of the Israelites, and the day it took place, on the morrow of Yom Kippur, can also now be understood. The commandment about the Shabbat was in itself the rectification of the sin of the Golden Calf. Rambam11 traces the origins of idolatry to the fact that Divine providence is channeled through natural forces and objects: "Precious fruits (are) brought forth by the sun, and. precious things. by the moon.''12 Although their worshippers recognized them as merely intermediaries, they attached divine significance to them. Their error was to regard them as objects of worship, whereas they are no more than the instruments of G-d, like "an ax in the hands of the hewer." At another level, the excessive preoccupation with business and the material world is also a form of idolatry.13 In the same way, it involves the error of attaching significance to what is no more than an intermediary or the channel of Divine blessing. His mental preoccupation is a form of bowing the head, of misplaced worship. Only when he sees his work for what it is, a way of creating a natural channel for the blessings of G-d, will his work take the passive form and the focus of his thoughts be on G-d alone.<br /><br />This is how idolatry-whether in its overt or its more subtle forms-is atoned. Six days of passive work, in the sense of mental detachment and the realization that human work is only an instrument of G-d, are the corrective for and the denial of the instincts of idolatry.<br /><br />6. Passivity in the Spirit<br /><br />This error and its correction exist on the spiritual as well as the material plane. In Pirkei Avot14 it is stated: "Do not be like servants who minister to their master on the condition of receiving a reward." It is possible to study and fulfill the Torah for the sake of the attendant spiritual pleasures. But this is to be motivated by reward. The highest service is to perform G-d's will for its own sake, unconditionally. And this is like the passive labor described above. It is labor because it is not done for the sake of pleasure. It is passive because such a man does not regard his spiritual achievements as the result of his own talents, but of the helping hand of Heaven. If he opens himself to G-d, however slightly, G-d responds and helps him along the way. This assistance comes even prior to the fulfillment of a command. Commenting on the verse in Job,15 "Who has come before Me that I should pay him?" the Rabbis say,16 "Who made Me a parapet without My making him the roof, who made Me a Mezuzah without My making him the house, who made Me Tzitzit without My making him the garment?" Passivity in the spiritual life means making oneself no more than a channel for the Divine response.<br /><br />7. Assembly and Unity<br /><br />Finally, we can now understand why our passage uses the verb "And Moses assembled" instead of "And Moses spoke."It was the day after Yom Kippur, when the sin of the Golden Calf, which had brought back into the world the spirit of impurity,17 was atoned for. The world was to be restored to its original state, as it was before the first sin. There was to be "one nation in the land," and the world was once again to become a private domain (reshut hayachid, literally, the "domain of the One") for the Unity of G-d. Therefore there had to be an "assembly" in which the people were gathered into a unity.<br /><br />(Source: Likkutei Sichot, Vol. I pp. 187-192)drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-38128753976991456422007-12-14T18:05:00.000+01:002007-12-14T18:06:21.729+01:00Vrede komt als Israël zich bekeert(door Rein Visscher)<br /> <br />Zal de terugtrekking door Israël uit de Gazastrook en enkele nederzettingen op de westelijke Jordaanoever de vrede dichterbij brengen? Als we in de Bijbel de geschiedenis vanaf het begin lezen, krijgen we oog voor de strijd die tot op de dag van vandaag wordt gevoerd. <br /><br />Er bestond een familievete tussen Izaïk en Ismaël, de twee halfbroers. Als Esau met Machalat, de dochter van Isma‰l, trouwt (Genesis 28 vers 9), wordt deze vete een strijd tussen de twee broers. En dan zien we deze vete zich uitbreiden tot de nakomelingen van Iza„k en Isma‰l, Jacob en Esau. Het volk Israël en de Arabische volkeren. <br /><br />Deze strijd duurt nog steeds voort. Daarom is het zeer de vraag of de huidige maatregelen werkelijk tot vrede kunnen leiden. We zien immers, als we de Bijbel lezen, steeds weer dat vrede voor het volk Israël ervan afhangt, of het volk de Here dient of niet. <br /><br />Als Israël de weg die de Here aanwijst, verlaat, komt er een periode van onrust en oorlog en geeft God het volk over in handen van de vijand. Maar wee de vijand die Israël dan onder de voet loopt. God straft die vijand, omdat die zich richt tegen zijn volk. Als Israël dan berouw krijgt van z'n zonden en zich bekeert, geeft God weer vrede. <br /><br />Hier zien we, dat hoe Israël ook zondigt en zich van God afkeert, God zijn volk niet verstoot. De apostel Paulus is hier heel duidelijk over. In de hoofdstukken 9 t/m 11 van zijn brief aan de Romeinen geeft hij duidelijk aan wat de positie van Israël ook nu nog is. <br /><br />Wij als christenen zullen de positie van het volk Israël anders moeten beoordelen dan vanuit politiek oogpunt. <br /><br />Hoe kan dan vrede worden bereikt? Dat hangt ervan af, wat we onder vrede verstaan. De shalom die in de Bijbel bedoeld wordt, is in de eerste plaats vrede met God. Dan volgt voor het volk van God ook de vrede met elkaar. <br /><br />Wat moet Israël dan doen? Zich bekeren. Hoe wordt die vrede bereikt? Als het volk Isra‰l, het Joodse volk, de God der vaderen weer gaat zoeken en uitkomt bij Messias Jezus en diens verlossingswerk gaat zien en aanvaarden. <br /><br />We zien dat het aantal Messiasbelijders onder het Joodse volk langzaam groeiende is. We danken God daarvoor. Ook zijn er gemeenten die contacten uitoefenen met christen-Palestijnen. Een voorbeeld is de Beith Asaph-gemeente van David Loden in Nethanya. Zij bidden voor elkaar en bellen elkaar op als er aan beide zijden weer doden vallen. <br /><br />Dat is een prachtig voorbeeld, hoe geloof in de Messias Yeshua deze volken verbindt. <br /><br />Heeft de kerk, hebben wij als christenen een taak in dit 'Vredesproces'? Jazeker! De kerk zal bewust moeten worden gemaakt van de positie van Israël (het Joodse volk) ‚n van haar eigen positie. We moeten ons er in toenemende mate bewust van worden, dat wij als wilde takken tussen de eigen takken op de edele stam zijn geënt. Dat wij als gelovigen uit de heidenen door genade alleen deel hebben gekregen aan de saprijke wortel. Niet wij dragen de wortel, maar de wortel draagt ons (Romeinen 11 vers 11-24)! <br /><br />Paulus schrijft schrijft in de tegenwoordige tijd. Deze zaak is ook nu nog actueel. Wees niet hoogmoedig, maar vrees!, zegt Paulus, ook nu nog tegen ons. <br /><br />Belofte <br />We moeten daarom wegdoen alles wat ook maar enigszins riekt naar de 'vervangingstheologie'. Ook binnen de gereformeerde gezindte was dat een gangbare theorie, die nog steeds voorkomt. De kerk is niet in de plaats van Israël gekomen, maar tussen hen geënt. God maakt geen gedane zaak met Israël. Voor £ is de belofte, en voor uw kinderen en voor allen die verre zijn. Dit zegt Petrus (Handelingen 2 vers 39) tegen de Joden! <br /><br />Hoe moeten we deze taak uitvoeren? Hen jaloers maken, door te laten zien wie Jezus, de Messias, is en wat het geloof in Hem en het aanvaarden van zijn verlossingswerk tot gevolg heeft. Niet eigenwijs en hoogmoedig, maar in grote verwondering. <br /><br />Door hun struikelen en vallen in ongeloof kwam de weg vrij voor de heidenen tot Christus en tot God. <br /><br />We moeten in de gezinnen en in de kerk veel bidden, dat het Joodse volk dit met verwondering zal gaan zien en zich zal bekeren. Dit gebed ontbrak tot nu toe nog veel te veel. <br /><br />Dan alleen komt er vrede met God, en dan kan Israël ook in vrede wonen. Dat zien we de hele bijbel door. God heeft dat immers beloofd! <br /><br />Rein Visscher is voorzitter van de Stichting ter bevordering van de evangelieverkondiging aan het Joodse volk (Stevaj) en lid van de Bat Tsion Commissie, die namens de Gereformeerde Kerken (vrijgemaakt) de evangelieverkondiging onder het Joodse volk behartigt. <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br />©Nederlands Dagbladdrs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-61715878079059868792007-12-14T17:57:00.000+01:002007-12-14T18:01:30.967+01:00Vrede op aarde?Vrede op aarde?<br /><br />Wat gebeuren er toch vreselijke dingen in de wereld. Misschien is dat altijd al zo geweest, maar met de moderne communicatie-middelen wordt je er wel met de neus bovenop gedrukt. En vaak vraag je je machteloos af waar dat toch allemaal goed voor is. Zal daar nu nooit eens een eind aan komen?<br /><br />Natuurlijk zijn er nog steeds mensen die geloven dat dit allemaal nodig is voor de vooruitgang. Die gaan er vanuit dat er niet alleen een evolutie is in de natuur, maar ook in de maatschappij. En net als in de natuur de sterke dieren de zwakke op moeten ruimen, zijn al die conflicten en oorlogen in de wereld nodig om te groeien naar een ideale, klassenloze samenleving.<br />Maar na zo'n tachtig jaar ervaring met deze visie in het Oostblok, is het geloof in deze theorie wat op z'n retour. Toch zijn er nog heel wat die ondanks alles blijven vasthouden aan hun ideaal. Ze hebben nog steeds een sterk vertrouwen dat het ooit nog eens zo ver zal komen. <br /><br />Maar weet je, eigenlijk is dat nog niets vergeleken bij al die mensen die tijdens de kerstdagen weer uit volle borst "vrede op aarde" zitten te zingen! Wat dacht je daarvan?! Die bakken het nog veel bruiner! Die geloven al tweeduizend jaar dat dat nog eens gaat gebeuren! Vrede op aarde! Nou, dan moet je wel oogkleppen voor hebben en je verstand op nul zetten om dat nog serieus te nemen! Na tweeduizend jaar christendom is die vrede op aarde nog steeds ver te zoeken! Je moet toch wel een bord voor je kop hebben om daar nog in te geloven. <br /><br />Toch moeten we hier even een hardnekkig misverstand uit de weg ruimen. Kijk, het marxisme leerde dat de mens gebruik moest maken van de wetten van de evolutie in de maatschappij. Dan zou er binnen afzienbare tijd een klassenloze maatschappij ontstaan en zou er vrede zijn. Maar wist je dat Jezus precies het tegenovergestelde verkondigde? Hij had het helemaal niet over vrede! Ik zal je even voorlezen wat hij 2000 jaar geleden zei over de toekomst van de wereld en over de tijd waarin we nu leven.<br /><br />"Pas op", zei Hij, "dat je je niet laat misleiden. Want velen zullen in mijn naam komen en zeggen: 'Ik ben het', en 'de tijd is nabij!'. Loopt hen niet na. En wanneer jullie horen spreken van oorlogen en omwentelingen, schrikt er niet van, want dit alles moet eerst gebeuren, maar het einde komt niet zo spoedig. Volk zal opstaan tegen volk, en koninkrijk tegen koninkrijk, en er zullen geweldige aardbevingen zijn, en op verschillende plaatsen pestziekten en hongersnoden en schrikwekkende dingen en grote tekenen vanuit de hemel. Ja, er zullen tekenen zijn aan zon, maan en sterren, en op de aarde doodsangst onder de volken, radeloos door het het gedruis van de zee en de branding. <br />En de mensen zullen vergaan van vrees voor wat er met de wereld gaat gebeuren, want de krachten der aarde zullen worden geschokt ……"<br /><br />Ja, dat is wel even wat anders dan "Vrede op aarde!" Dat is precies het tegenovergestelde! Maar hoe komen ze er dan in hemelsnaam bij om elk jaar vrede op aarde te zingen met Kerst?! Dat slaat dan toch nergens op?<br /><br />Ik weet ook niet precies hoe de maker van dat bekende kerstlied aan die woorden kwam: Vrede op aarde, in de mensen een welbehagen. Misschien was de wens de moeder van de gedachte. Vrede op aarde en in de mensen een welbehagen, dat was best fijn om over te zingen. Maar kloppen doet het niet helemaal.<br /><br />Maar staat de tekst van dat lied dan niet in de Bijbel?! Daarin staat toch, dat er naar aanleiding van de geboorte van Jezus zoiets door de engelen werd gezongen? Nee hoor. Het lijkt er alleen een beetje op. Nee, volgens de Bijbel werd er het volgende gezongen: "Ere zij God in de hoge en vrede op aarde onder de mensen van goede wil!"<br /><br />Vrede op aarde onder de mensen van goede wil. Daar ging het over: dat er vrede zou komen voor iedereen die van goede wil was. En die vrede is er al die eeuwen daarna geweest. Dat is een vrede die niet afhankelijk is van de omstandigheden. Een vrede in je hart. Als je die vrede hebt, dan ervaar je ook een diepe vrede met al die anderen die dat geheim ook hebben ontdekt. Ja, er is vrede op aarde onder de mensen van goede wil. En die vrede hebben ze ondanks de dingen die er om hen heen gebeuren. <br /><br />Weet je, vaak geven we de omstandigheden de schuld als we in de problemen zitten en geen vrede hebben van binnen. Natuurlijk spelen de omstandigheden een grote rol. Maar als je geluk moet afhangen van de omstandigheden, wel, dan hangt je geluk wel aan een zijden draadje. Want de omstandigheden heb je niet in de hand. En die zullen er ook niet beter op worden volgens Jezus Christus. <br /><br />Daarom is het zo belangrijk dat je het geheim ontdekt van een vrede van binnen die niet afhankelijk is van de dingen die om je heen gebeuren. <br /><br />Maar al die oorlogen dan? Zal daar dan nooit een eind aan komen? Nee, zonder de vrede die Jezus geeft, komt daar nooit een eind aan. Want al die grote oorlogen en conflicten zijn een optelsom van alle kleine oorlogjes en conflicten bij iedereen van binnen. Als daar geen eind aan komt, dan blijft het dweilen met de kraan open. <br /><br />Kijk maar naar wat er gebeurde nadat de muur viel. Eerst dachten we allemaal dat er nu wel een tijd van vrede zou aanbreken. Nou, mooi niet hoor. Toen begon het bloedvergieten pas. <br /><br />Nee, echte vrede begint niet in het groot en aan de buitenkant. Echte vrede begint in je hart. Je wil moet veranderen, die moet goed worden, zodat je plezier krijgt in de dingen die goed zijn en een hekel krijgt aan de dingen die niet deugen. En dat gebeurt wanneer je Jezus Christus uitnodigt in je leven. <br /><br />God heeft nog steeds geduld met de wereld. Hij hoopt om zo te zeggen nog steeds dat de mensen de mogelijkheid zullen aangrijpen om die echte vrede te ontvangen. Maar de prijs van zijn geduld is wel vreselijk hoog. Dat kunnen we dag in dag uit zien op TV en in de krant. Dat kan niet lang meer duren. Daarom zeggen we wel eens: Als er nu toch een God is van liefde hè, dan moet Hij toch eens een keer ingrijpen. Nou, dat gaat een keer gebeuren. Dan is de maat vol. Dan komt Jezus terug. <br /><br />Dan komt er vrede op aarde omdat hij dan iedereen uit de wereld zal gaan verwijderen die die echte vrede niet wilde ……<br /><br />Alleen zitten we nu nog met dat bekende kerstlied. Wat moeten we daarmee? Kunnen we dat nu niet meer zingen? Ja hoor. Als we dan maar bedenken dat die vrede alleen maar daar is waar Jezus de leiding heeft, hetzij nu in je hart, hetzij straks over de hele aarde als Hij teruggekomen is.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-35708201686055258102007-08-28T18:43:00.000+02:002007-08-28T19:45:18.245+02:00ON BEING A CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN"WHAT is bothering me is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today." So wrote the young Lutheran Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his Berlin prison cell in April 1944, one year before he was executed by the SS for complicity in the plots against Hitler's life. It is a question that today — for more complicated reasons — concerns countless thousands of churchgoers, who see about them a Christianity in the midst of change, confusion and disarray.<br />For Roman Catholics, the religious revolution set loose by the Second Vatican Council has changed many traditional patterns of worship and thought, and seemingly unleashed a legion of priests, nuns and laymen who feel free to cast doubt on every article of defined dogma. Protestants too have been stunned by the spectacle of an Episcopal bishop openly denying the Trinity and the Virgin Birth, and ordained ministers teaching in seminaries proclaiming the news that God is dead. On the theological right, evangelical preachers summon believers back to a strict Biblical orthodoxy; on the left, angry young activists insist that to be a Christian is to be a revolutionary, and propose to substitute picket lines for prayer.<br />It is not really surprising that the churches should be sounding uncertain trumpets, or that Christians should be insecure as to the meaning and direction of their spiritual commitment. Undeniably, one of the most telling events of modern history has been a revolution in the relationship of religion to Western civilization. The churchgoer could once take comfort in the fact that he belonged to what was essentially a Christian society, in which the existence of an omnipotent God was the focus of ultimate meaning. No such security exists today, in a secular-minded culture that suggests the eclipse rather than the presence of God.<br />Science and technology have long since made it unnecessary to posit a creative Deity as a hypothesis to explain anything in the universe. From Marxists, existentialists and assorted humanists has come the persistent message that the idea of God is an intellectual bogy that prevents man from claiming his mature heritage of freedom. In the U.S., which probably has a higher percentage of regular Sunday churchgoers than any other nation on earth, the impact of organized Christianity appears to be on the wane. One problem for the future of the churches is the indifference and even hostility toward them on the part of the young. Even those drawn to the person of Christ chafe against outmoded rules, irrelevant sermons, dogmas that apparently have no personal meaning to a generation struggling to understand themselves, to grapple with such concrete issues as sex and social injustice.<br /><strong>Also a Man</strong><br />Undeniably, one major task of theology today is to define what it means to be a Christian in a secular society. For millions, of course, there is no real problem. Baptism and church membership are the external criteria of faith, and a true follower of Jesus is one who keeps his beliefs free from heresy and tries to live a decent, upright, moral life. Yet to the most thoughtful spokesmen of modern Christianity, these criteria are not only minimal, they are secondary and even somewhat irrelevant. Instead, they argue that faith is not an intellectual assent to a series of dogmatic propositions but a commitment of one's entire being; ethical concern is directed not primarily toward one's own life but toward one's neighbor and the world. The mortal sins, in this new morality, are not those of the flesh but those of society; more important than the evil man does to himself is the evil he does to his fellow man. "The Christian's role is to bear witness to God in man," says Jesuit Clinical Psychologist Carlo Weber. "Jesus Christ is the wedding of the divine and the human. Being a Christian for me means bearing witness to the wedding of divinity and humanity, to love God and man—to be involved, therefore, in human affairs."<br />Although the churches have always taught that Christ was both God and man, Christians have hardly ever seemed to accept his humanity. Historically, preaching has emphasized the Risen Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, and will come in glory to the Last Judgment. This is a basic premise of faith, but it is equally true that Jesus was emphatically a man — a lowly carpenter who walked the earth of Palestine at a specific moment in human history, and whose death fulfilled Isaiah's prophesy of the Suffering Servant. Jesus, as Bonhoeffer memorably put it, was "the man for others."<br />Summing up his message to man, Jesus asked his followers to love God, and "thy neighbor as thyself." For centuries, Christians have seemed to emphasize the first of those commands—and all too frequently, when there was a conflict between the two, it was love of man that went by the boards. But Biblical scholars point out that the New Testament is a very secular book, and there is an unmistakable social concern in Jesus' moral teachings. In Matthew 23, for example, Jesus condemns as hypocrites the scribes and Pharisees who ostentatiously tithe their possessions but neglect "the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith."<br /><strong>Christian & Atheist</strong><br />There is nothing fundamentally new about the insight that Christian ethics are corporate rather than individualistic. The medieval monasteries, for example, were dedicated to serving their communities as well as to praising God in communal prayer; the Mennonites and Quakers have always emphasized brotherly love and peace rather than dogma. The difference is that theologians now take it for granted that Christian love is something that cannot be confined to the church but is directed toward all the world. The commitment of a man who follows Jesus is not to an institution, but to life itself.<br />Within the churches, there is considerably less agreement on how this commitment should be exercised. Christian radicals — such as the young firebrands who dominated the National Council of Churches' Conference on Church and Society in Detroit last fall — argue that the true follower of Jesus is the revolutionary, siding with forces and events that seek to overthrow established disorder. On the other hand, Protestant Theologian Hans-Joachim Margull of Hamburg University points out that it is not always so easy to identify the secular causes that Christians have a clear moral duty to support.<br />It is easy enough to argue that Christians have a God-given duty to work for racial equality, or for the eradication of hunger and disease in the world. The strategies to be followed in achieving these goals do not so easily acquire universal assent. For that reason, Dean Jerald Brauer of the University of Chicago Divinity School argues that churches should not necessarily be engaged in trying to hand down specific solutions to social and political problems from the pulpit. Christian creativity in trying to solve these questions, he says, "won't be a case of the churches poking their noses into areas where they have no right to be. Churches may have no special answers, although they certainly have a responsibility to sensitize their people to the questions. But the answers will have to be worked out by the body politic."<br />What this means, in essence, is that a commitment to love in worldly life cannot be separated from faith in Christ, who demanded that commitment. One argument against trying to build Christianity on moral action alone is that Jesus' teachings, unlike those of, say, Confucius, make sense only when understood as counsels of perfection in obedience to God rather than as workable guidelines of behavior. The Rev. David H. C. Read, pastor of Manhattan's Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, points out that in facing many problems of life the behavior of the Christian and the humanist might well be identical. Bertrand Russell and the Archbishop of Canterbury, for example, could equably serve on the same committee to improve housing. "The distinction is not in their action," Read argues. "It is in their motivation and ultimate conviction on the meaning of life." This suggests that the committed Christian who is immersed in the secular world will also be to some extent an anonymous Christian; his light will still shine before the world, but it will not be so easily identified.<br />Since faith is the reason for commitment, most churchmen regard the idea of a "Christian atheist" or a "Christian agnostic" as something of a contradiction in terms. "I can't see how it is possible to be a Christian atheist," says Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike, who has been accused of being just that by some of his fellow clerics. "You cannot attack the idea of an ultimate and at the same time accept Jesus as an ultimate." Swiss Catholic Theologian Hans Kiing points out that "Jesus had no sense of himself without God. He made it clear that his radical commitment to men presupposed a radical commitment to God."<br />Nonetheless, theologians also acknowledge that only God is the final judge of who can rightly be considered a Christian. Austrian Jesuit Theologian Karl Rahner, for example, suggests that there is today "an invisible Christianity which does indeed possess the justification of sanctifying grace from God. A man belonging to this invisible Christianity may deny his Christianity or maintain that he does not know whether he is a Christian or not. Yet God may have chosen him in grace." Similarly, the late Protestant theologian Paul Tillich contrasted the "manifest church" of confessed believers with what he called the "latent church," whose membership included all men engaged with the ultimate realities of life.<br /><strong>The Decline of Dogma</strong><br />Since faith is primarily a way of life rather than a creed to be so proclaimed, it is not something that can be reduced to an articulated set of principles. In an age of ecumenical breakthrough and doctrinal pluralism, sectarian particularities of belief seem largely irrelevant and even a little quaint. What is important is not the doctrine of predestination, for example, but the mystery of man's relationship to God that lies behind it. A Christian must accept the Incarnation — but there is room for differing interpretations of Jesus' unique relationship to God. The Resurrection is, as the Apostle Paul insisted, the cornerstone of faith; but how one defines this unique defiance of death is of less moment.<br />Even in the Roman Catholic Church, which has traditionally upheld the immutability of dogma, there is widespread recognition by theologians that all formulas of faith are man's frail and imperfect vessels for carrying God's truth, and are forever in need of reformulation. In the light of Christianity's need to respond to the human needs of the earth, many of these ancient formulas hardly seem worth rethinking. "The central axis of religious concern," notes Langdon Gilkey of the University of Chicago Divinity School, "has shifted from matters of ultimate 'salvation,' and of heaven or hell, to questions of the meaning, necessity, or usefulness of religion for this life." In other words, the theological task is to justify Christianity in this world — and let God take care of the next.<br />The faith commitment of the Christian also implies the need for allegiance to a church — or at least to some kind of community of faith. Theoretically, it may be possible for a Christian to survive without any institutional identity — but the majority of modern theologians would agree that to be "a man for others" there must be others to be with, and that faith is sustained by communal structure. Churchmen would also argue that there is nothing obsolete about the basic necessity for worship and prayer. "Liturgy must be an expression of something that is happening in the community," says the Rev. David Kirk, a Melchite Catholic priest who is founder of a unique interfaith center in Manhattan called Emmaus House. "Without worship, the community is a piece of rubbish." On the other hand, there is little doubt that the churches are in desperate need of new, this worldly liturgies that reflect present needs rather than past glories.<br /><strong>A Band of Soul Brothers</strong><br />While a church — in the sense of a community — may be necessary for a viable Christian life, institutional or denominational churches are not. Today it would be hard to find an atheist whose criticism of religion is any more vociferous than the attack on the irrelevance, stagnation and non utility of organized christendom offered by its adherents. "Christianity is like a trip," muses Episcopal Bishop Edward Crowther, a Fellow of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Santa Barbara, Calif. "The church is like a travel agent with a lot of pictures in her office describing what it's like. But either she's never been there, or was there so long ago that she doesn't remember what it was all about."<br />Methodist Theologian Van Harvey suggests that the church should not be "a place where men come to be more pious. The church is a place of edification, where one comes to learn to be an honest-to-God person living in dialogue with others." Despite all the yearning for spirituality that may exist in the average Modern church, it is questionable how many churchgoers can and do live up to this ideal. The stratified irrelevance of the established parish, whether Catholic or Protestant, is a major reason for the growth of what Episcopal Chaplain Malcolm Boyd has dubbed "the underground church"—informal, ad hoc gatherings of Christians who cross over and above denominational lines to celebrate improvised Eucharists in each other's homes, and study Scripture or theology together.<br />To some theologians, the emergence of this underground church is a sign of spiritual health, a harbinger of renewal. To be sure, there is the possibility that these unstructured groups might coalesce into a new kind of gnostic sect — an elect that considers itself set apart from the erring mass of nominal believers. On the other hand, there is the far greater danger that institutional Christianity, without an extraordinary amount of reform, will end up as a monumental irrelevancy. Faced with a choice between the church in its present form and the underground cell, it is likely that a majority of Christian thinkers would opt for the small, unstructured community as a likely model for the future. Jesus never explicitly said that all men would be converted to believe in his word. Far more meaningful is his image of his followers as the "salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" — similes suggesting that the status of Christianity, until God's final reckoning, is properly that of a band of soul brothers rather than a numberless army.<br />Despite the visible health and prosperity of existing denominations, there is a considerable number of future oriented theologians who feel that the church, in large parts of the world, is entering a stage of Diaspora when, like Judaism, it will survive in the form of a scattered few, the hidden remnant. Strangely enough, there are any number of Christians who rejoice at this prospect rather than fear it. This is not because they want to see the fainthearted and the half convinced drift away into unbelief. Rather, they prefer that the choice of being Christian once again become openly, as Kierkegaard puts it, a leap of faith, an adult decision to serve as one of God's pilgrims on the road of life.<br />It is conceivable that Christianity is heading toward an era in which its status will be akin to that of the despised minority who proclaimed faith in the one God against the idolatry of the Roman Empire. To be sure, the Christian burden in the future will be different from that of the past: less to proclaim Jesus by word than to follow him in deed and loving service. It may prove a perilous course, but the opportunity is great: the courage and zeal of that first despised minority changed the history of the world.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-82776044486061730312007-07-12T22:58:00.000+02:002007-07-12T23:00:00.450+02:00drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-25809518903762468152007-03-08T23:12:00.000+01:002007-03-08T23:14:40.952+01:00Semantic Encoding of the Hebrew TextHebrew Syntax Encoding Initiative Working Papers, no 96.4<br />revised draft no. 2<br /><br />* * *<br /><br />Contents<br /><br />1. Introduction<br /><br />Part I: Assignment of Semantic Functions<br />1. Source of Function Labels and Initial Characterizations<br />2. Lexical Rules (Verbal Case Frames)<br />3. Formal Rules<br /><br />Part II: Critical Consideration of the Semantic Encoding Scheme<br />4. Adequacy of Scheme<br />5. Redundancy and Decomposition<br /><br />* * *<br /><br />1. Introduction<br /><br />1.1 The working paper HSEIWP96.2, ""Theory-Neutral" Syntactic<br />Tagging of the Text," presents a brief outline of the encoding<br />scheme and indicates the theorizing behind it. This paper,<br />HSEIWP96.4, is the sister of HSEIWP96.3, "On the Syntactic<br />Encoding of the Text," which examines choices in implementation<br />of phrase-structure parsing and assignment of syntactic case. It<br />was thought useful to separate out the semantic case or<br />"functions" for independent consideration here in HSEIWP96.4.<br /><br />1.2 These three working papers, together with the independent<br />work by Kirk Lowery, HSEIWP96.1, which introduces the Encoding<br />project and its goals, constitute a basic documentation package<br />to accompany the HSEI texts, initially of Jonah with the four<br />books of Samuel-Kings to follow.<br /><br />Part I: Assignment of Semantic Functions<br /><br />1. Source of Function Labels and Initial Characterizations<br /><br />1.1 To date, the source of the semantic tags has been Kirk<br />Lowery's paper, "The Role of Semantics in the Adequacy of<br />Syntactic Models of Biblical Hebrew," pp. 101-128 in Bible and<br />Computer: Desk and Discipline: The Impact of Computers in Bible<br />Studies: Proceedings of the Fourth International Colloquium of<br />the Association Internationale Bible et Informatique (AIBI),<br />Amsterdam, 15-18 August 1994 (Travaux de Linguistique<br />Quantitative, no. 57; Paris: Honore Champion, 1995):<br /><br /><ag> agent<br /><bn> benefactive<br /><ex> experiencer<br /><gl> goal<br /><in> instrument<br /><lc> location<br /><pt> patient<br /><pr> percept (with experiencer)<br /><rc> recipient<br /><sr> source<br /><th> theme<br /><br /><cr> circumstance<br /><cm> comitative<br /><di> direction<br /><du> duration<br /><fr> frequency<br /><hw> cause<br /><mn> manner<br /><pa> path<br /><pu> purpose<br /><qu> quality<br /><tm> time<br /><wh> reason<br /><br />1.2 This scheme appears to strike a balance between fine- and<br />coarse-grained approaches to Biblical Hebrew semantic functions.<br />The goal is to apply the labels in a consistent fashion so that<br />they can be easily manipulated by the discrimating functionalist<br />scholar.<br /><br />1.3 In initial attempts to tag Jonah and fragments of other<br />texts, the semantic roles where the most difficult to assign<br />confidently and systematically. I have adopted a series of formal<br />rules to aid the encoder in this more difficult area of tagging,<br />which are now outlined. It is hoped that such rules might be<br />developed into lexical "features" of verbs; and that such a<br />lexicon could be invoked in the envisioned unification-based<br />parsing of the text.<br /><br />2. Lexical Rules (Verbal Case Frames)<br /><br />2.1 Verbs of Motion. The <th> theme tag is reserved here<br />strictly for the constituent in motion; this may be the argument<br />of the verb, e.g., hlk, or independently motivated by<br />prepositions such as el "to." The theme may be the subject <n>;<br />or the object <a>, in which case the subject is the agent <ag>.<br />There are therefore two schemas. Here as elsewhere the question<br />of the redundancy of the syntactic case assignment arises.<br /><br /> (a) <th> <gl> <sr><br /> |<br /> <n><br /><br /> (b) <ag> <th> <gl> <sr><br /> | |<br /> <n> <a><br /><br />2.2 Verbs of Cognition. The paired functions "experiencer"<br /><ex> and "percept" <pr> are reserved for verbs of cognition. It<br />is expected that typically <ex> will be associated with the<br />subject position <n>.<br /><br />2.3 Verbs of Speech. These verbs are not assigned semantic-<br />functional labels, only <n> for speaker, <a> for content, and <d><br />for the addressee.<br /><br />2.4 Verbs of Exchange. Under the interpretation of "theme" <th><br />adopted, i.e., the constituent in motion, that which is exchanged<br />is analyzed as a theme. The subject will necessarily be an agent<br /><ag>. The goal is marked <rc> "recipient" and associated with<br />dative assignment <d>. In summary, verbs of exchange pattern<br />similarly to verbs of motion.<br /><br />3. Formal Rules<br /><br />3.1 Purpose <pu> is automatically assigned to the <pp> headed by<br /><p> l- "to" which in turn governs the <ip>.<br /><br />3.2 Why/Reason <wh> is assigned to the ki-<cp> as default. The<br /><p> 9al "on" in 9al ken "therefore" automatically triggers <wh>.<br />The complex construction with be-$el-l-mi is assigned <wh> as<br />well.<br /><br />3.3 <p>s are assigned <lc> as a default.<br /><br />3.4 A <pp> headed by ka'a$er triggers <mn> "manner."<br /><br />3.5 The <p> 9al triggers <di> by stipulation in its sense of<br />"versus."<br /><br />3.6 The <p> 9im "with" is assigned <cm>.<br /><br />Part II: Critical Consideration of the Semantic Encoding Scheme<br /><br />4. Adequacy of Scheme<br /><br />4.1 The scheme as applied to the text of Jonah does not present<br />any insurmountable difficulties. Nevertheless, scholars using the<br />database would be well advised to consider the slipperiness of<br />the semantics in working with the results of searches.<br /><br />4.2 It seems unlikely that the full range of semantic tags would<br />be required for automated parsing. However, there is the question<br />of the relative order of verbal modifiers; and the more fine-<br />grained scheme here should facilitate testing hypotheses in this<br />domain.<br /><br />5. Redundancy and Decomposition<br /><br />5.1 Redundancy and the Lexicon. There appears to be a great deal<br />of redundancy at the lexical level. Individual <p>s appear to be<br />redundantly associated with semantic tags, e.g., the <p> 9im<br />"with" and the function <cm> "comitative." Such observations<br />extend to the arguments of verbs as noted in section 2 above.<br />Given the verb is, e.g., yd9 "to know," the subject <np:n> is<br />redundantly tagged <ex> "experiencer."<br /><br />5.2 Such observations, however, hold out hope for automated<br />tagging. Lexical entries could in some fashion bear semantic<br />"features" that could be used in assigning semantic "functions."<br /><br />5.3 Consideration of a lexicon and its structure suggests that<br />many of the semantic-function labels are not "primitives" but are<br />subject to decomposition. The label <pu> "purpose," e.g., appears<br />to be a function of a particular <p>, l- "to" as noted in section<br />3 above.<br /><br />5.4 Such considerations suggest that groups might be related<br />systematically at a more primitive level. No doubt <tm> "time,"<br /><du> "duration," and <fr> "frequency" could be so related;<br />indeed, <tm> may be the primitive, the others derived by<br />composition.<br /><br />5.5 The basic suggestion is that individual heads <x> introduce<br />semantic features into representations by virtue of their lexical<br />representations. These features can percolate and interact with<br />features and syntactic configurations to produce the ultimate<br />assignment of "function" to a given <xp>.<br /><br />5.6 An example might be the assignment of <tm> "time" to bre$it<br />in Genesis 1:1. Under the null hypothesis, b- "in" might be<br />assigned <lc> by default, but otherwise remain unmarked. On the<br />other hand, re$it will bring with it the feature <tm> by virtue<br />of its semantic lexical entry. The proposal can be graphically<br />represented in (a) and (b).<br /><br />(a) variables in < > (b) variables bound by <tm><br /><br /> PP < > PP <tm><br /> / \ / \<br /> P NP < > --> P NP <tm><br /> | | | |<br /> b- < > N b- <tm> N<br /> | |<br /> re$it <tm> re$itdrs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-9987391552669175152007-02-26T21:36:00.000+01:002007-02-26T21:37:14.634+01:00De Mens - Metafoor(Beth HaMidrash)<p><br />In de discussie, Goddelijke relativiteit ten opzichte van het Universum, is de favoriete metafoor van de mystici (ook vele filosofen) de analogie tot de mens. Theologische concepten en de G`D-wereld verhouding, zijn vaak uitgelegd in termen van ziel-lichaam verhouding, en in het bijzonder met de vergelijking van de verschillende ziel-gaven, hun eigenschappen, functies en manifestaties. De ‘bewijstekst’ voor dit taalgebruik is het vers ‘Vanuit mijn vlees voorzie ik G`D’ (Job 19:26) en de Rabbijnse analogie “Juist zoals de ziel doordringt het hele lichaam. ziet maar is niet gezien……ondersteund het hele lichaam…..is zuiver…..verblijft in de binnenste omgeving……is uniek in het lichaam….doet niet eten noch drinken…..geen mens weet waar zijn plaats is…… Dat de Heilige die Een is, geprezen zij Hij…” Ook dit in bepaalde zin volgt het bovengenoemde principe van een ‘aards-bovennatuurlijke overeenkomst’.</p> <p>Maar zelfs als tijdelijk begrippen van de ziel behulpzaam zijn om kwesties te begrijpen die gerelateerd zijn aan het Goddelijke, dan is dit maar een antropomorfistische benadering welke niet te ver mag gaan, zo nodig beperkt.</p> <p>Het moet onthouden worden, zoals R. Schneur Zalman karakteriseert, dat in sommige opzichten de analogie instort en compleet ontoereikend is: “Deze parallel is alleen ter bevrediging van het oor. In werkelijk echter, heeft de analogie geen enkele overeenkomst tot het vergelijkbare oogmerk. Want de menselijke ziel… is geaffecteerd door de accidenten van het lichaam en zijn pijn. terwijl de Heilige die Een is, geprezen zij Hij, niet, de Hemel verbied, is geaffecteerd door de accidenten van de wereld en zijn veranderingen, noch door de wereld zelf; zij bewerkstelligen geen enkele verandering in HEM…..”. Evenzo, “De ziel en het lichaam zijn in werkelijkheid verschillend van elkaar, van uit hun absoluut bron gezien, want de bron van het lichaam en zijn essentie komen niet in tot– zijn–vanuit de ziel…”. Dus terwijl het lichaam volledig ondergeschikt mag zijn aan de ziel, zijn er, niettegenstaande, twee verschillende entiteiten. In contrast, “in relatie tot De Heilige die een is, geprezen zij Hij, die alles tot existentie brengt <em><strong>ex nihilo</strong></em>, is alles absoluut genullificeerd, net zoals het licht van de zon is genullificeerd in de zon zelf”. M.a.w. licht is niets vergeleken tot zijn bron.</p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-52632317889866275412007-02-26T21:06:00.000+01:002007-02-26T21:07:17.687+01:00Book Review: Writing Genres<p><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:formulas> <v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"> <o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style="'position:absolute;" allowoverlap="f"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\michael\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg" title="devitt"> <w:wrap type="square"> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span class="style1"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span><b><i><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Writing Genres</span></i></b><span style="" lang="EN-GB">, by Amy J. Devitt. <st1:city st="on">Carbondale</st1:City>: Southern <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Illinois</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Press, 2004. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Reviewed by Mary Buchinger Bodwell, <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Massachusetts</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">***<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Devitt examines the development of rhetorical genre theory over the past twenty years, illustrating the value of a user-based definition of genre. In her analysis, genres are dynamic and shaped by the tension between paired elements including multiplicity and standardization, variation and regularity, stability and flexibility, the individual and society. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">*** <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">In the first chapter of <i>Writing Genres</i>, Amy Devitt tells the reader that this work “examines, interprets, illustrates, elaborates, critiques, refines, and extends a rhetorical theory of genre” (2). This volume accomplishes all it promises, more or less. With a focus on the first half of this set of verbs, <i>Writing Genres</i> is more a concise and comprehensive synthesis of the work that has been done in genre theory in the last twenty years than it is a critique or extension of the theory. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Citing the seminal work of rhetorical theorists Karlyn Kohrs Cambell, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Carolyn Miller, Devitt describes the shift from critic- and scholar-driven definitions of genres to user-based definitions. She argues against reducing genre to a classification system, which limits the pool of objects for analysis to fairly static forms. As she points out, not only does this discount the wide range of variation within genres but, more damagingly, it decontextualizes the text. Devitt maintains that regarding genre as a classification or a form entails circularity—the definition of a text’s genre depends on the text’s classification or formal features and the classification or form of the text depends on the genre’s definition. On the other hand, a rhetorical theory of genre focuses less on the features of a text and much more on its social context, rhetorical purposes, and themes; in other words, users define genres.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Devitt unpacks Miller’s definition of genre: “typified rhetorical actions based in recurrent situations,” and explains that a situation is a social construct and is integrally bound up with genre in a dynamic, reciprocal relationship. Genre, essentially a functional activity, responds to the rhetorical demands of a situation, but it resists the determinism such an economy of supply and demand might impose. Devitt quotes Bakhtin’s observation that there is no first speaker; all texts are intertextual and, perhaps, intercontextual as well. Devitt asserts that genre is a nexus of situation, culture, and other genres which has an impact on the actions of writers and readers. Although the idea of meaningful human activity being both constituted and constitutive is certainly not new, Devitt more intriguingly suggests that “[g]enre allows us to particularize context while generalizing individual action” (30).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">In her analysis of genres in social settings, Devitt proposes six principles: Genres are generated in and dependent upon the activity of people in groups; genres are ideological as well as situational, and function in multiple ways; the social functions of a genre may sometimes be recognizable only by members of the group in which the genre developed; genres interact with each other, and finally, a genre “reflects, constructs, and reinforces the values, epistemology, and power relationships of the group from which it developed and for which it functions…” (63-64). Devitt advocates for a view of discourse communities as both constructed by and generative of discourse practices. Furthermore, she wants to broaden the definitions of social groupings in relation to genres. In her discussion of Swales’ work, Devitt is critical of the limited range of social structures and communities he considers appropriate for study. For Devitt, commonalities in goals and purposes trump commonalities in discourses or genres. In examining individual participation in numerous communities, she focuses on the shifting of identity and motives as an individual moves through various communities; however, she fails to discuss the co-construction of groups and individuals and the ways in which communities differentially evoke individual potentialities or respond to individual participation. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Devitt illustrates the principles of the social nature of genres with her 1986 analysis of texts generated by tax accountants. These accountants self-identified a variety of different types of writing they do in their work. Devitt analyzed the texts for similarities in rhetorical situations and in linguistic features; not surprisingly, she found both differences and commonalities in the genres across individuals and across firms. Devitt also provides a number of examples of the dynamic nature of genres and how they reflect shifts in situational contexts and cultural and rhetorical purposes. Her discussion of Kitzhaber’s work on the history of composition is especially fascinating in light of current debate over the relevance and effectiveness of expository writing classes. Devitt uses this history to illustrate the tension between flexibility and stability—each is necessary for the survival of a genre but each is also capable of killing off a genre (i.e., a genre that is too loosely defined is as vulnerable as genre that is too rigidly defined). Each extreme has threatened the viability of composition courses in the academy. Her discussion of her own study, <i>Standardizing Written English: Diffusion in the Case of Scotland</i>, illustrates a number of the principles of genre change. However, penciled in the margin of my copy of <i>Writing Genres</i> are the questions “audience? purpose?” “education level?”—in this discussion, she has seemingly overlooked major elements of her own construction of genre.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Devitt also explores the ways in which genres provide authors with “creative boundaries” and describes artistic responses to generic constraints. Unfortunately, as is the case throughout the book, the emphasis is more on theory (in this case, creativity theory) than on practice. In another chapter, Devitt compares literary and rhetorical genres, identifying significant differences in who defines and who uses genres. Citing Rosmarin’s work, she notes that literary genre theorists tend to privilege the reader, particularly the critic, whereas rhetorical genre theorists privilege the writer. This tendency is reflected in the goals that drive their respective work. Literary genre theorists look for texts that break generic rules, focusing on the particularities of individual texts, whereas rhetorical genre theorists are more concerned with the ways in which texts bear generic similarities and conform to identifiable genre constraints. Yet, she notes both view genre as constructed and constructive; both are interested in questions of universality and persistence of relevance. In identifying similarities between the two, Devitt may be taking some chances, as well as opening doors for possible interchange.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The most provocative chapter in the book is Devitt’s proposal to raise students’ awareness of genre. Writing mostly in response to Freedman’s critique of explicit teaching of genre (which is focused on second language pedagogy), Devitt suggests that rather than being instructed in the particular features of specific genres, students should be taught the process of acquiring a new genre. She argues that strategies for acquiring a genre could serve students well in all linguistic contexts. Explicit teaching of genre, rather than implicit teaching through immersion, has the advantage of allowing students access to the construction of genres and, likewise, to their ideologies. Students should be instructed to consider the rhetorical form of a text and take into account the context, audience, and purpose. For example, Devitt’s students examine a variety of texts, such as newspaper wedding announcements and catalogue course descriptions, and determine who the audience is, what the author’s purposes might be, and what recurring features they notice. She also has students consider alternative ways of accomplishing the same purpose, or additional information that might have been included. Like awareness of differences in register, awareness of differences in genres can possibly lead to greater control and can position students to be more purposeful in their use of language. Devitt argues that students can begin to build a repertoire of genres along with a sense of the rhetorical demands of a particular situation. This argument serves both as her response to scholars who have called into question the transferability of writing skills from first year composition to disciplinary writing as well as her rationalization for the maintenance of first-year writing courses. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Devitt presents a theory of genre built on the tension between paired elements such as multiplicity and standardization, variation and regularity, stability and flexibility, the diachronic and synchronic, the individual and society. The tension along these various continua lends genres their dynamic character. Unfortunately, there are some gaps in the survey of the literature—Duranti, Gee, Goodwin, Gumperz, Ochs, and other key figures are missing from the discussion of genre in relation to context and discourse communities. However, Devitt does not claim to have written the ultimate volume on genre, and she issues calls for further research to validate and expand the theory. Most significantly for the further development of an interdisciplinary approach to genre analysis, she voices a strong and consistent call for the reintegration of content and form, text and context. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-42110603333828543462007-02-26T20:50:00.000+01:002007-02-26T20:51:00.887+01:00A literatura e o contemporâneo<p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR"> </span><span style="" lang="FR"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">O que dizer da produção literária estabelecida em 1997 para que a partir dela se possa pensar o ano de 1998? Pensar o que, minimamente, tenha ou carregue caraterística própria para receber o nome de literatura; ou seja, originalidade. Mas pensar apenas assim pode ser pouco. Literatura, para a originalidade, vai sempre precisar de história, precisar de referência, precisar, principalmente, de uma dimensão formal do que ficou aparentemente pronto como ‘obra de arte literária’. </span><span style="" lang="FR"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">Em literatura - está em Tonio Kroeger, livro curto e um dos mais geniais de Thomas Mann, quando a personagem homônima afirma em uma conversa com sua amiga Lisavieta, e ensina: “A literatura não é profissão alguma, e sim uma maldição.” -, esta maldição maravilhosa, só se pode/deve discutir qualidade, formação de estética, preservação e registro. Literatura de verdade não vende, nunca deixou ninguém nadando em dinheiro e “é muito bom que não venda”, diz Leminski. Este nosso tempo é que quer pensar a literatura como comércio, como necessidade orçamentária, já que tudo ficou fácil, fácil demais até. Mas não pode ser comércio o que é apenas um sutil prazer para o diletante. Mais adiante Kroeger afirma: “Ah! sim, a literatura cansa, Lisavieta.” </span><span style="" lang="FR"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">O fato é que, cansada, a literatura tornou-se apenas mais uma entre tantas manifestações culturais. Perdeu a sua hegemonia, virou princípio participativo e foi aboca hando outra fatia deste pequeno bolo qualitativo através de um diálogo maior.Ponto normal se pensarmos isso diante da abertura pós-moderna, ou como queiram nomear essa reviravolta normativa. O outro ponto, anormal, seria pensar a literatura como resistência para a descompostura estética que vive a contemporaneidade. </span><span style="" lang="FR"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">A suposta abertura para o heterogêneo, chamada de pós-modernidade, não significa abastardamento. Logo, a verdadeira literatura não pode ser resistência. Esta abertura apenas permite que o diálogo intercontextual seja intensificado e estabeleça novas regras de andamento para qualquer predisposição de arte. A literatura, senhora de si, essencialmente, tenta manter os seus velhos leitores e trazer o anti-leitor - este, natural deste tempo, que é empiricamente fascinado pelo som e pela imagem -, para perto. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;">Tudo muito tranqüilamente. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">A narrativa que se pretende contemporânea, com total garantia do caráter literário, é feita sob a égide desse vulto heterogêneo que é a grande cidade. “O mundo é, hoje, todo, este oxímoro: uma ampliação reduzida: uma grande cidade.” Daí ficar impossibilitada qualquer pretensão criativa que traduza esta época e seja ao mesmo tempo voltada apenas para o regional, para uma literatura nacional, presa dentro de pequenas fronteiras, daqui ou de qualquer lugar. Pensar a literatura hoje, seria pensá-la de uma forma pós-nacional para que não seja tomada como entidade inexistente. </span><span style="" lang="FR"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 3.75pt 0cm; text-indent: 30pt; line-height: 120%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: Verdana;" lang="FR">Outro fato é: por mais incalculável que seja a quantidade de livros que pipocam por aí sem contribuição nenhuma, sem valor de classificação, o que de melhor se produz em arte neste país ainda é no plano literário. Temos uma produção de poesia - que é qualitativamente muito boa - e uma outra de narrativas - menor, mas também interessante - que buscam exatamente o conceito estabelecido por Bhabha: “De muitos, um.” Do heterogêneo, a essencialidade. E hoje, é neste conceito de essencialidade múltipla que sustenta-se a literatura, na desleitura. E não dialogando com o que ainda quer ser nacional, cheio de penduricalhos tradicionais. </span><span style="" lang="FR"><o:p></o:p></span></p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-20982446443130358542007-02-26T20:39:00.000+01:002007-02-26T20:41:22.289+01:00Semantic Minimalism and Nonindexical Contextualism<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-style: italic;">John MacFarlane (</span><st1:placetype style="font-style: italic;" st="on">University</st1:PlaceType><span style="font-style: italic;"> of </span><st1:placename style="font-style: italic;" st="on">California</st1:PlaceName><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span><st1:city style="font-style: italic;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">Berkeley</st1:place></st1:City><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p><br />Abstract: </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">According to Semantic Minimalism, every use of "Chiara is tall"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(fixing the girl and the time) semantically expresses the same proposition,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the proposition that Chiara is (just plain) tall. Given standard assumptions,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">this proposition ought to have an intension (a function from possible worlds<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">to truth values). However, speakers tend to reject questions that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">presuppose that it does. I suggest that semantic minimalists might address<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">this problem by adopting a form of "nonindexical contextualism," according<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">to which the proposition invariantly expressed by "Chiara is tall" does not<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have a context-invariant intension. Nonindexical contextualism provides an<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">elegant explanation of what is wrong with "context-shifting arguments" and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">can be seen as a synthesis of the (partial) insights of semantic minimalists<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">and radical contextualists.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">1. Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">My niece is four and a half feet tall—significantly taller than the average<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">seven-year old. With this in mind, I might say "Chiara is tall," and, it seems,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">I would be speaking truly. Yet it also seems that if her basketball coach<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">were to say "Chiara is tall" while discussing who should play which position<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">on the team, he would not be speaking truly. What can we conclude about<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the <i>meaning </i>of "tall"?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Moderate Contextualists </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">conclude that the sentence must be contextsensitive,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in a way that goes beyond the context sensitivity of "Chiara" and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"is" (which we may presume are being used in reference to the same girl<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">and time). They reason as follows: If I am speaking truly and the coach is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">speaking falsely, we must be saying different things. Since we are using<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the same sentence, and using it "literally," this sentence must be contextsensitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Used at my context, it expresses the proposition that Chiara has<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">significantly greater height than the average seven-year old; used at the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">coach's context, it expresses the proposition that she has significantly<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">greater height than the average member of team he coaches.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore (2005) reject this reasoning, but only at the last step.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">They agree that different things are said in the two contexts I have<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">described, but they deny that anything interesting follows from this about<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the <i>meaning </i>of "Chiara is tall." They can do this because they are <i>Speech<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Act Pluralists</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">: they hold that indefinitely many different things can be said<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in a single utterance. So, although I have said that Chiara is tall for a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">seven-year old, and the coach has said that she is tall for a member of the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">basketball team, that is consistent with there <i>also </i>being something that we<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have <i>both </i>said—namely, that she is (just plain) tall. It is this that Cappelen<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">and Lepore take to be the invariant semantic content of the sentence we<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have used. Thus they can concede to the Moderate Contextualist that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">different things have been said in the two contexts, while resisting the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">conclusion that the sentence used is context-sensitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">This deployment of Speech Act Pluralism helps deflect one argument<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">against the view that there is a single proposition that is semantically<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">expressed by <i>every </i>use of "Chiara is tall" (fixing the girl and the time). But<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">it does nothing to make it plausible that there <i>is </i>such a proposition. Indeed,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">most contextualists, including some who accept Speech Act Pluralism,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">take it to be obvious that there <i>cannot </i>be any such proposition, on the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">grounds that there is no such thing as being just plain tall (as opposed to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">tall for a seven-year old, or tall for a team member, or tall compared to a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">skyscraper, or …). That there is in fact such a proposition—a bona fide,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">truth-evaluable proposition, not a "proposition radical" or anything<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">schematic—is the central tenet of what Cappelen and Lepore call<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Semantic Minimalism</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">. It is this, chiefly, that distinguishes them from the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">philosophers they call <i>Radical Contextualists. </i>If it should turn out that there<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is no such "minimal" or (borrowing a phrase from Ken Taylor)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"modificationally neutral" proposition, then Cappelen and Lepore will have<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">no choice but to embrace the Radical Contextualists' conclusion that there<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is no hope for systematic theorizing about the propositions expressed by<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sentences in contexts.1 After all, they accept all of the Radicals' arguments<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">against the Moderates.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Our first order of business, then, should be asking what might be thought<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">1 Note that this is not at all the same as the claim that systematic<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">semantics is impossible. What Radical Contextualists reject is only a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">certain conception of what semantics must accomplish.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">to be problematic about such propositions—since Moderate and Radical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Contextualists are united in rejecting them—and considering whether<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore have said enough to dispel these worries. I am<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">going to argue that although Cappelen and Lepore misidentify the real<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">source of resistance to minimal propositions, and so do not address it, this<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">worry <i>can </i>be addressed. However, the strategy I will describe for making<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sense of Semantic Minimalism is not one that Cappelen and Lepore can<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">take on board without cost. For my way of "making sense" of Cappelen<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">and Lepore's view can, with a slight shift of perspective, be regarded as a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">way of making sense of Radical Contextualism, a position they regard as<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">incompatible with their own (and indeed as hopeless).2<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">2. The intension problem<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Let's call the proposition putatively expressed in every context of use by<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the sentence "Chiara is tall" (fixing girl and time) <i>the proposition that Chiara<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is (just plain) tall </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(at time <i>t</i>—I will henceforth omit this qualification).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">According to Cappelen and Lepore, "[t]his proposition is not a 'skeleton'; it<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is not fragmentary; it's a full-blooded proposition with truth conditions and a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">truth value" (181). What they mean, presumably, is that it has a truth value<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">at every circumstance of evaluation (since propositions may, in general,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have different truth values at different circumstances of evaluation).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">I believe that most philosophers' worries about minimal propositions are<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">rooted in puzzlement over the question this claim naturally provokes: At<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">which </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluation is the proposition that Chiara is (just<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">plain) tall true? Here I'm using the technical term "circumstance of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">evaluation" the way David Kaplan taught us to use it in <i>Demonstratives<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(1989)<i>. </i>A circumstance of evaluation includes all the parameters to which<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">propositional truth must be relativized for semantic purposes. Though<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Kaplan himself included times in his circumstances of evaluation (and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contemplated other parameters as well), the current orthodoxy is that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">2 Because my concern here is with the coherence of Semantic<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Minimalism, I will not address the arguments Cappelen and Lepore<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">muster in favor of that doctrine (most of them arguments <i>against </i>the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextualist alternative).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluation are just possible worlds.3 In this setting, our<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">question becomes: At which possible worlds is the minimal proposition that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Chiara is (just plain) tall true? I'll call this the <i>intension problem </i>for minimal<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">propositions (using the term "intension" for a function from possible worlds<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">to truth values for propositions, or to extensions for properties and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">relations).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">It's easy to feel pressure to make this intension very, very weak. After all,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">being tall for a seven year old does seem to be a <i>way </i>of being tall. So it is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">natural to think that the proposition that Chiara is (just plain) tall must be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">true at every world at which the proposition that Chiara is tall for a seven<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">year old is true. Similar reasoning will move us inexorably towards the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">conclusion that, no matter what reference class <i>F </i>we pick, the proposition<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">that Chiara is (just plain) tall is weaker than the proposition that she is tall<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">for an <i>F</i>. After all, even being tall compared to an ant is a way of being tall.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">We are left with the surprising conclusion that the minimal proposition that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Chiara is (just plain) tall is true at every world at which Chiara has any<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">degree of height at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">That's odd enough. It gets even odder when we run the same argument<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">with "short" and conclude that the proposition that Chiara is (just plain)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">short is true at every possible world in which she is not absolutely gigantic.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">It follows that at all but a few very odd worlds, Chiara has both the property<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of being (just plain) tall <i>and </i>the property of being (just plain) short. And that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">does not sit well with our feeling that <i>being tall </i>and <i>being short </i>are<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">incompatible properties.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore do not themselves embrace this view about the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">3 Kaplan included times because he thought the tenses were best<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">understood as propositional operators, which need a parameter to shift<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(1989: 502-3). This view of tenses is now rejected by most<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">semanticists, so there is no longer a compelling reason to include a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">time parameter in circumstances of evaluation (see King 2003). But<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">everything I say in this paper about the orthodox framework could be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">said (with minimal modifications) about a Kaplan-style framework as<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">well.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">intension of <i>tall. </i>They do not reject it either. They present it as one of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">several possible views one might adopt about the metaphysics of tallness<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(171):<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">• A thing is tall if there is some comparison class with respect to which<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">it is tall.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">• A thing is tall if it is tall with respect to its <i>privileged </i>comparison<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">class.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">• A thing is tall (at time <i>t</i>) if it is tall with respect to the comparison<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">class that is appropriate to its situation (at <i>t</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">• A thing is tall if it is taller than the average of all objects with height.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">All of these views are problematic; indeed, Cappelen and Lepore point out<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">many of the problems themselves. But they don't think that solving these<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">problems, or deciding between these options, is part of their job as<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">semanticists. Their charge is language, not the metaphysics of properties.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Having argued to their satisfaction that "tall" is not context sensitive, they<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">are content to leave it to the metaphysicians to sort out just what an object<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">has to be like in order to have the property that "tall" invariantly expresses.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">This response is fine, as far as it goes. Semanticists should not be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">required to be metaphysicians (or physicists or biologists or ethicists).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">They need not give informative answers to questions about the intensions<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of properties.4 However, in taking resistance to minimal propositions to be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">grounded in a misguided demand for an informative <i>specification </i>of their<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">intensions, Cappelen and Lepore have missed what is most troubling<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">about their doctrine. Semantic Minimalism is problematic not because it<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">does not <i>provide </i>an answer to questions about the intensions of its<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">minimal properties and propositions, but because it requires that there <i>be<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">answers to such questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">4 It is not difficult for the Semantic Minimalist to give <i>uninformative<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">answers: for example, "a thing has the property of being tall (in some<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">world <i>w</i>) just in case it is tall in <i>w</i>."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Suppose that you are examining some ants on the sidewalk. Most of the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">ants are tiny, but one is significantly bigger than the rest. "That's a big<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">one," you say. After a while, the ants begin to disappear though a barely<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">perceptible crack in the concrete. When the last ant, the bigger one,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">squeezes through, you say, "Boy, that ant is small." At this point a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Semantic Minimalist appears and begins to question you in a most<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">annoying way:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"Wait a second. You just said that that ant was big. Now you say it's<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">small. I didn't notice it changing size. So which is it, big or small?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"Well, it's big for an ant, but small compared to most of the other things<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">we can see."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"Fine, but I'm not asking about these properties; I'm asking about plain<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">old bigness and smallness. You said (among many other things) that the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">ant was (just plain) big, and then that it was (just plain) small. Do you<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">suppose it could have had both properties, bigness and smallness?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"No..."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"So which is it, then? Or don't you know?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">The question seems completely inappropriate. But why should it, if the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Semantic Minimalist is right that there is a property of being (just plain) big<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">which is always expressed by "big", and a property of being (just plain)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">small which is always expressed by "small"? Why shouldn't we be able to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">entertain questions about which things have these properties? It is not<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">enough to point out that semanticists need not answer metaphysical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">questions. For even the answer "I have no idea" seems out of place here.5<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">5 It should be clear that the problem does not stem from the <i>vagueness<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of "big" and "small". It would not help the Semantic Minimalist here if<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">we allowed the intensions of bigness and smallness to be functions<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">from possible worlds to fuzzy extensions (mappings of objects to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">degrees of truth) or partial functions from possible worlds to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">extensions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">It might be suggested that we reject such questions because we aren't<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">aware </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of the minimal propositions that are semantically expressed by our<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sentences, but only of the more determinate contents of our speech acts.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">But such a line would be incompatible with what Cappelen and Lepore say<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">about the cognitive role of the minimal content. They say that "the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">proposition semantically expressed is that content the audience can expect<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the speaker to grasp (and expect the speaker to expect the audience to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">grasp, etc.) even if she has such mistaken or incomplete information"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">about the context (184-5). Explaining how a speaker could use the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(presumably quite weak) proposition that A is red in order to make a much<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">more determinate claim about A's color, they say: "The audience can<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">assume that the speaker knew that this [the proposition semantically<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">expressed] was trivial and was not interested in conveying such trivialities<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">with his utterance and can, therefore, infer that there's work to be done in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">order to figure out exactly what the speaker was trying to communicate"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(185-6). All of this assumes that both speaker and audience are aware of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the proposition semantically expressed. (Indeed, the second claim<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">assumes some mutual knowledge about the <i>intension </i>of this proposition.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">If Cappelen and Lepore were to abandon this assumption, they would<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">open themselves up to the objection that their minimal propositions play no<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">real cognitive role in communication.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Alternatively, the Minimalist might say that the reason speakers find the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">question in our dialogue inappropriate is that they have mistaken views<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">about the semantics of terms like "big" and "small." They implicitly take<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">these words to be context sensitive, when in fact they invariantly express<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the properties of being (just plain) big and (just plain) small.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">It should be obvious, however, that this response would completely<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">undermine the positive case for Semantic Minimalism. For the contextualist<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">can use exactly the same trick—attributing confusion or error about the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">semantics of these terms to ordinary speakers—to dismiss the evidence<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore have mustered that terms like "red," "tall," and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"know" do not behave like context-sensitive expressions. For example,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore make much of the fact that we report others who<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">utter the sentence "Chiara is tall" as having said that Chiara is tall, without<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">much regard to differences in our contexts. The practice of making such<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"intercontextual disquotational indirect reports" only makes sense, they<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">say, if "tall" semantically expresses the same property in every context. But<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the contextualist can accept this conditional and conclude that the practice<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">doesn't </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">make sense—that it embodies a fundamental mistake people<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">implicitly make about the semantics of their own terms, a mistake that the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextualist hopes to correct. (This is, in fact, a common line for<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextualists to take, although they sometimes also question the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">uniformity or the relevance of the data about intercontextual indirect<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">reports: see DeRose, forthcoming.) Cappelen and Lepore need to say<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">something to block this kind of move. Whatever they say, it will presumably<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">also block <i>them </i>from appealing to massive speaker error or confusion in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">explaining our rejection of the question in the dialogue above as somehow<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">absurd or inappropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">To recap: The intension problem is the problem of saying just what a world<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">must be like if the proposition that Chiara is (just plain) tall is to be true at<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">that world. Cappelen and Lepore rightly put this aside as a metaphysical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">question, not a semantic one. But they fail to see that there is a semantic<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">problem lurking in the immediate vicinity. If Semantic Minimalism is true,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">then the intension problem should have a solution (even if the solution is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">not known to us). But we do not treat it as having a solution at all. We<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">reject as inappropriate questions that ought to have perfectly definite<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">answers if there is such a property as being (just plain) tall and that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">property has an intension.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">3. Minimal propositions without intensions?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">In view of this problem, it is worth asking whether a Semantic Minimalist<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">can coherently deny that minimal propositions, like the proposition that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Chiara is (just plain) tall, have intensions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">In orthodox frameworks of the kind favored by most Moderate<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Contextualists, this option is not open. For propositions have truth values<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">relative to circumstances of evaluation. If circumstances of evaluation are<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">just possible worlds, then propositions have truth values relative to worlds:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in other words, they have intensions. So if there is a proposition that is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">semantically expressed by "Chiara is tall" at every context of use, it must<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have an intension. At this point, contextualists conclude <i>modo tollente </i>that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">there is no such proposition, while Cappelen and Lepore conclude <i>modo<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">ponente </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">that, since there <i>is </i>such a proposition, it must have an intension.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">We can go beyond these two alternatives by thinking a bit differently about<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluation. Possible worlds will presumably be one<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">component of our circumstances of evaluation (otherwise, what will our<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">modal operators shift?), but nothing stops us from introducing other<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">components as well. (Indeed, semanticists have for various reasons<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">suggested adding times, "standards of precision," and other parameters.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">So let's think of a circumstance of evaluation as an ordered pair consisting<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of a world and a "counts-as" parameter, which we can model as a function<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">from properties to intensions (functions from worlds to extensions). The<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"counts-as" parameter is so called because it fixes what things have to be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">like in order to <i>count as </i>having the property of tallness (or any other<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">property) at a circumstance of evaluation.6<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">As before, we say that propositions have truth values at circumstances of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">evaluation. But now our circumstances are not just worlds, so it no longer<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">follows that propositions have truth values at worlds. This is why it is not<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">appropriate to ask about the truth value of the proposition that Chiara is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(just plain) tall at a possible world (including the actual world). For there will<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in general be <i>many </i>circumstances of evaluation that have a given world as<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">their world parameter but differ in their "counts-as" parameter. Our<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">proposition will be true at some of these circumstances and false at others.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">So it does not have an intension (a function from possible worlds to truth<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">values).7 This should be a welcome result for the Semantic Minimalist, who<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">no longer has to say that there is a (context-invariant) answer to the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">question: Does Chiara have the property of being (just plain) tall, in the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">actual world, or not?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Following Kaplan, we say that an occurrence of a sentence is true just in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">6 Note that the function assigns an intension to <i>every </i>property, not just<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"minimal" properties. This is important because, as Cappelen and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Lepore point out (172-5), the same kinds of arguments that may lead<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">one to doubt that the property of <i>being tall </i>has an intension can also be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">run for the property of <i>being tall for a giraffe.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">7 Of course it has an "intension" in a broader sense: a function from<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluation </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">to truth values.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">case the proposition expressed is true at the circumstance of the context.8<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Which circumstance of evaluation is the "circumstance of the context," in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">this framework? The world parameter of the circumstance of the context is,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of course, just the world of the context. But the counts-as parameter will be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">determined in complex ways by other features of the context, including the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">topic of conversation and the speaker's intentions. In a context C1 where<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">I'm talking about seven-year olds, the counts-as function might assign to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the property of being (just plain) tall the same intension it assigns to the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">property of being tall-for-a-seven-year-old. In a context C2 where I'm<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">talking about members of the basketball team, the counts-as function<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">might assign to the property of being tall the same intension it assigns to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the property of being tall-for-team-member. Thus the circumstance of C1<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">can differ from the circumstance of C2 even if the two contexts are situated<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in the same world (say, the actual world). And as a result, an occurrence of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"Chiara is tall" in C1 can differ in truth value from an occurrence of "Chiara<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is tall" in C2, even if the same proposition is expressed by both.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">We can now say precisely what goes wrong in the story about the ants<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(above). The problem is <i>not </i>that there is no such proposition as the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">proposition that the ant is (just plain) big. The present view concedes that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">there is such a proposition, and that this proposition is perfectly suitable, in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">general, for use in questions and answers. In general, we look to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextual factors to determine a counts-as parameter that (together with<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the world of utterance) can settle a truth value for the proposition in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">8 "If <i>c </i>is a context, then an occurrence of </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in <i>c </i>is true iff the content<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">expressed by </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in this context is true when evaluated with respect to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the circumstance of the context" (Kaplan 1989: 522). Semanticists<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sometimes ascribe truth to <i>utterances </i>rather than to occurrences of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sentences in contexts, but as Kaplan notes, the notion of an utterance<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">is proper to pragmatics, not semantics. It is especially odd to find<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Speech Act Pluralists like Cappelen and Lepore ascribing truth and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">falsity to utterances (e.g. in their "intercontextual disquotational test,"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">105), since on their view an utterance can express indefinitely many<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">propositions, which (one assumes) need not all have the same truth<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">value at the circumstance of the context.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">context. In the ant story, however, the context fails to determine a single<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">counts-as parameter, because the questioner has deliberately made<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">salient two incompatible counts-as parameters: the one that was in play<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">when the ant was first described as big and the one that was in play when<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">it was later described as small. The question "which is it, big or small?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">presupposes that the context determines sufficiently what counts as having<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the properties of bigness and smallness. But the questioner in this case<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">has ensured that this presupposition cannot be met. That is why we<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(rightly) reject the question and find <i>every </i>answer (even "I don’t know") to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">be inappropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">As far as I can see, the view I have just described is consistent with<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Semantic Minimalism, as Cappelen and Lepore describe it. It allows that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"Chiara is tall" expresses the same proposition at every context of use<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(fixing girl and time). This proposition is not a "schema," but "a full-blooded<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">proposition with truth conditions and a truth value," that is, a truth value at<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">each circumstance of evaluation. Granted, the proposition does not have a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">truth value at each <i>possible world, </i>but that is just what we should expect in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">a framework where there is more to circumstances of evaluation than just<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">worlds.9<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">On this picture, the sentence "Chiara is tall" is not context-sensitive in the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">sense that it expresses different propositions at different contexts. But it <i>is<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">context-sensitive in the sense that the truth of an occurrence of it depends<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">on features of the context—not just the world of the context, but the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">speaker's intentions, the conversational common ground, and other such<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">things.10 Accordingly, this brand of Semantic Minimalism might also be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">9 "Temporalists" who take circumstances of evaluation to be world/time<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">pairs do not think that propositions have truth values relative to worlds,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">either.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">10 Interestingly, Cappelen and Lepore give two distinct definitions of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"context-sensitive," corresponding roughly to these two senses (146).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">According to the first, "To say that <i>e </i>is context sensitive is to say that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">its contribution to the proposition expressed by utterances of sentences<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">containing <i>e </i>varies from context to context." According to the second,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"To say that <i>e </i>is context sensitive is to say that its contribution to the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">described as a kind of contextualism: what I have elsewhere called<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Nonindexical Contextualism</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">.11 This way of describing it brings out how<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">close it is to Radical Contextualism. <i>Too </i>close, Cappelen and Lepore may<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">feel! However, it is immune to their best arguments against Radical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Contextualism, so if they are going to reject it, they need fresh reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">truth conditions of utterances <i>u </i>of a sentence S containing <i>e </i>(in some<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">way or other) references various aspects of the context of <i>u</i>." In the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">framework I have described, these two definitions are not equivalent.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">11 See my "Nonindexical Contextualism" (in preparation). See also<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">MacFarlane 2005a and 2005b, where I describe nonindexical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextualist views in order to distinguish them from views I regard as<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">genuinely "relativist." I take it that the account developed by Predelli<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">2005, to which I am much indebted, is also a form of nonindexical<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">contextualism. Instead of countenancing an extra parameter of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluation, as I do here, Predelli conceives of points<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of evaluation as something like state descriptions (which fix the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">extension of every property and relation expressible in the language).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">There are state descriptions according to which Chiara falls into the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">extension of both "four and a half feet tall" and "tall", and others<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">according to which she falls into the extension of the former but not the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">latter. Which state description is "the circumstance of the context" will<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">depend not just on the world of the context, but on other features of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">context as well. I think that the differences between these two versions<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">of nonindexical contextualism are largely notational. I prefer to "factor<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">out" my circumstances of evaluation into a world component and a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">catch-all counts-as parameter, because it is convenient to have a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">separate "world" parameter of circumstances for modal operators to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">shift. If we let them shift state descriptions wholesale, then "That could<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have been red" could come out true just because what counts as red<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">might have been different, even if the color of the object demonstrated<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">could not have been different—surely an undesirable result. But this is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">not a fatal objection to Predelli's approach: as Kenny Easwaran has<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">pointed out to me, Predelli could allow his modal operators to shift<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">state descriptions "retail," the way quantifiers shift assignments.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">4. Context Shifting Arguments reconsidered<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">An advantage of the framework I have just sketched is that it offers a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">different (and perhaps deeper) diagnosis than Cappelen and Lepore's of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">what goes wrong in Moderate Contextualists' uses of Context Shifting<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Arguments (CSAs). Unlike Cappelen and Lepore's diagnosis, this one<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">does not require Speech Act Pluralism, though it is consistent with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Let's consider again the general form of a Context Shifting Argument. We<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">describe two occurrences of the same sentence, S, one in context C1, the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">other in context C2. We then observe that intuitively the former is true,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">while the latter is false. Assuming these intuitions are accurate, we can<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">conclude the following:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(1) At C1, S expresses a proposition that is true at the circumstance of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">C1.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(2) At C2, S expresses a proposition that is false at the circumstance of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">C2.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">We <i>cannot </i>conclude, however, that the proposition S expresses at C1 is<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">different from the proposition S expresses at C2. For if the circumstance of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">C1 is different from the circumstance of C2, our two occurrences of S can<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">diverge in truth value even while expressing the same proposition.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Nothing about the general point I am making here depends on<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">circumstances of evaluations being anything other than just worlds.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Suppose S is the sentence "Bush won the US Presidential election in<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">2000," and suppose that the world of C1 is different from the world of C2.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Then an occurrence of S in C1 could diverge in truth value from an<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">occurrence of S in C2, not because different propositions are expressed,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">but simply because the circumstances of the two contexts are different.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(Say, Bush won in the world of C1, but lost in the world of C2.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Thus, a CSA establishes that the propositions expressed are different only<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">given an additional premise:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(3) The circumstance of C1 = the circumstance of C2.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Normally users of CSAs do not even mention (or perhaps see the need for)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">this premise, because in orthodox frameworks it is relatively easy to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">secure. In these frameworks, a circumstance of evaluation is just a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">possible world, so (3) amounts to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">(4) The world of C1 = the world of C2.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">So the user of a CSA has only to describe contexts that take place at the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">same world and differ only in other ways—in the topic of conversation, for<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">example—and the CSA <i>will </i>establish that what is said at C1 is different<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">from what is said at C2.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen and Lepore seem to accept all of this reasoning. They accept<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">that the CSAs used by contextualists show that something different is said<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">at the two contexts described. Their point is that this does not show that<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">the proposition <i>semantically expressed </i>is different, because (given Speech<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Act Pluralism) the proposition semantically expressed is only one of many<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">things said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">If we adopt the framework described in the last section, however, we can<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">reject the contextualists' reasoning in a more fundamental way. For in this<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">framework it is no longer true that a circumstance of evaluation is just a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">world. This makes it much more difficult to construct a CSA for which (3)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">holds. It is no longer sufficient to ensure that C1 and C2 are situated at the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">same world; we must also make sure that these contexts determine the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">same counts-as function. This is relatively easy to do when we are making<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">up CSAs to demonstrate the indexicality of "I", "here", or "now", but difficult<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">or impossible when we are making up CSAs to demonstrate the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">indexicality of "knows", "tall", and other such terms. That is why CSAs work<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">in the former cases but not in the latter.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">5. Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">I have offered up this version of Nonindexical Contextualism as a way of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">making sense of Semantic Minimalism. If Cappelen and Lepore accept my<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">exegesis, then they can block Context Shifting Arguments in a different<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">way than they do in <i>Insensitive Semantics</i>, and without invoking Speech<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Act Pluralism. If they do not accept it, then they must find another way to<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">explain why speakers reject questions that should admit of answers (if only<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">"I don't know") if minimal propositions have determinate intensions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">In closing, a Hegelian thought. In a recent paper, Stefano Predelli (2005)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">has offered up his own version of Nonindexical Contextualism as a way of<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">making sense of Radical Contextualism. It is striking, I think, that a<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">plausible interpretation of Semantic Minimalism and a plausible<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">interpretation of Radical Contextualism should come out looking very<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">similar! This suggests that, far from being fundamentally opposed, the two<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">positions are just the two one-sided ways of grasping the truth about<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">context sensitivity that are available when one supposes that propositions<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">have truth values at possible worlds. <i>Thesis: </i>Semantic Minimalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Antithesis: </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Radical Contextualism. </span><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Synthesis: </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Nonindexical Contextualism.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">References<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Cappelen, H. and E. Lepore 2005. <i>Insensitive Semantics: A Defense of<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Semantic Minimalism and Speech Act Pluralism. </span></i><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Oxford</span></st1:place></st1:City><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">: Blackwell.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Kaplan, D. 1989. "Demonstratives." In <i>Themes from Kaplan</i>, ed. J. Almog,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">J. Perry, and H. Wettstein, 481-564. <st1:state st="on">New York</st1:State>: <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Oxford</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Press.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">King, J. 2003. "Tense, Modality, and Semantic Value." In <i>Philosophical<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Perspectives </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">17, <i>Philosophy of Language</i>, ed. J. Hawthorne, 195-245.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">DeRose, K. (forthcoming). "'Bamboozled by Our Own Words': Semantic<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Blindness and Some Objections to Contextualism." <i>Philosophy and<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Phenomenological Research</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">MacFarlane 2005a. "Making Sense of Relative Truth." <i>Proceedings of the<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Aristotelian Society </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">105 (2005), 321-39.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">MacFarlane 2005b. "The Assessment Sensitivity of Knowledge<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Attributions." <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><i>Oxford</i></st1:place></st1:City><i> Studies in Epistemology </i>1, ed. T. Szabo-Gendler and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">J. Hawthorne.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB">Predelli, S. 2005. "Painted Leaves, Context, and Semantic Analysis."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Linguistics and Philosophy </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">28, 351-74.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-86419879055741836152007-02-26T20:15:00.001+01:002007-02-26T20:15:58.741+01:00Wat zegt de Bijbel over homosexualiteit<div class="articleIntro">Soms komt een antwoord op de vraag ‘Wat zegt de Bijbel over homoseksualiteit?’ niet verder dan een bespreking van een aantal teksten uit Leviticus en Paulus’ brief aan de Romeinen, en misschien nog enkele teksten die afwijzend staan tegenover homoseksualiteit. Zo’n antwoord voedt de gedachte dat het bij christenen in de eerste plaats - of misschien wel uitsluitend - om de ethiek gaat: een hardnekkig misverstand dat telkens weer de wereld (en de kerk) uit geholpen moet worden.</div> <div class="articleBody">Ik ben blij dat ik ontdekt heb dat de Bijbel meer te bieden heeft dan ethiek. Dat begint al bij de rode draad die door de Bijbel loopt: het Evangelie en de betekenis van het Evangelie voor het alledaagse leven van iedere christen, ongeacht zijn seksuele geaardheid of voorkeur. Dat zet je stil bij het feit dat niet wat wij mensen doen zaligmakend is, maar wat God doet. Het Evangelie vertelt hoe God geschiedenis heeft gemaakt in de persoon van Jezus Christus en wat dat voor mensen vandaag betekent. In het Evangelie zegt God twee dingen tegen iemand: je bent een veel ergere zondaar dan je ooit wilt weten, en tegelijk: je bent meer geliefd dan je je ooit kunt voorstellen. Wanneer je een van de twee delen van deze dubbele boodschap er uitlicht ten koste van het andere deel, dan ben je het Evangelie kwijt.</div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphTitle">Het evangelie gebruiken</div> <div class="paragraphBody">Het Evangelie is een geschenk. Een christen heeft er een leven lang werk aan dat geschenk uit te pakken en het te gebruiken. Het geschenk bestaat eigenlijk uit drie delen. Een van de drie delen ongebruikt laten liggen, betekent dat je ook van de andere delen minder zult genieten. Daarom is voortdurende oefening in het gebruik van het Evangelie van levensbelang voor iedere christen. Het Evangelie gebruiken betekent je leven en je omgang met God en mensen tegen het licht van het Evangelie houden.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">Het eerste deel van het Evangelie gaat over vergeving. Je zonden zijn je vergeven. Zonden die te maken hebben met seksualiteit zijn niet erger dan andere zonden (als je de neiging niet kunt weerstaan zonden in graden van ernstigheid in te delen, doe het dan zoals C.S. Lewis het deed: hij maakte onderscheid tussen zonden die mensen op dieren doen lijken, bijvoorbeeld seksuele zonden, en zonden die mensen op de duivel doen lijken, bijvoorbeeld hoogmoed).</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">Het tweede deel van het Evangelie gaat over identiteit. Identiteit is van groot belang voor een mens: wie ben ik, wat maakt mij nu tot de persoon die ik ben? Het Evangelie geeft je een nieuwe identiteit. Een van de meest sprekende beelden die in het Nieuwe Testament hiervoor gebruikt wordt, is die van het krijgen van een nieuwe status: je was een slaaf (een zakenrelatie, waarbij het voortbestaan afhangt van jouw prestatie), nu ben je een kind (een familierelatie, waarbij het voortbestaan niet afhangt van wat jij doet, maar van wat iemand anders voor jou gedaan heeft).</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">Het derde deel van het Evangelie heeft te maken met het nieuwe leven als christen. Het Evangelie is een geschenk, en het nieuwe leven is onderdeel van dat geschenk (en dus niet terugbetaling). Het Evangelie bevrijdt je van de kramp om te scoren voor God om zo zeker te zijn van Zijn aanvaarding en liefde. Die aanvaarding en liefde hangt niet af van jouw prestatie, maar van wat Iemand anders voor jou gedaan heeft: Jezus Christus. Jij moet inderdaad aan het werk in het nieuwe leven, maar in feite is Hij de handelende persoon.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">En om alle twijfel overbodig te maken zet Christus er nog eens een streep onder, door in de Persoon van Zijn Geest in je te wonen, zodat je er niet alleen voorstaat in het nieuwe leven. De Heilige Geest bepaalt je telkens weer bij de wortels van je bestaan: je hoeft niets terug te betalen (een geschenk is iets anders dan een lening), en je hoeft niet te scoren: kijk naar Christus, Hij heeft het met God in orde gemaakt, houd Hem in beeld. Het nieuwe leven draait telkens weer uit op een gevecht met de duivel, de wereld, en je eigen vlees. Met menselijke wilskracht red je het niet. De Heilige Geest is je persoonlijke coach, die je leert vechten met de kracht regelrecht uit het hart van Evangelie: de genade van Jezus Christus.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphTitle">Christus liefhebben</div> <div class="paragraphBody">Tot nu toe heb ik nog weinig specifieks gezegd over homofiele christenen. En toch is het mijn ervaring van elke dag dat wat ik tot nu toe gezegd heb, onmisbaar is in een antwoord op de vraag ‘Wat zegt de Bijbel over homoseksualiteit?’. En het belangrijkste heb ik nog niet eens genoemd. Dat is dat het Evangelie een verbinding legt tussen jouw leven en het leven van Christus. Hij was de enige mens in de wereldgeschiedenis die niet hoefde te sterven, maar Hij koos ervoor de dood te ondergaan. Op die manier realiseerde Hij het reddingsplan dat Vader en Zoon God samen hadden gemaakt.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">Het Evangelie zegt: Hij leefde het leven dat jij had moeten leven, Hij stierf de dood die jij had moeten sterven. Hij stapte binnen in het niemandsland van de godverlatenheid. Hij kreeg de volle ontlading van de rechtvaardige toorn van de heilige God over Zich. Hij deed het omdat Hij jou liefhad. Deze Christus verbindt Zijn leven aan jouw leven en zegt: ‘Inderdaad, Ik ben de Zoon van God, de Koning boven alle koningen, oneindig ver verheven boven wie dan ook, maar jij mag Me jouw broer noemen, je vriend’.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">Christus liefhebben begint met Hem aanvaarden zoals Hij is (zoals je dat ook van Hem verwacht), ook wanneer Hij dingen doet of zegt die je tegenstaan (en wanneer je met de echte Jezus in aanraking komt, loop je onvermijdelijk tegen zulke dingen aan). Het betekent steeds meer onder de indruk raken van Zijn bijzondere persoonlijkheid waarin zoveel voor ons besef elkaar uitsluitende trekken zitten: Hij is moreel onkreukbaar, en tegelijk heel toegankelijk; Hij is zich bewust van Zijn bijzondere identiteit als Zoon van God en tegelijk nederig en dienstbaar; Hij is geduldig met zondige mensen en vaart uit tegen mensen die denken dat ze het moreel wel voor elkaar hebben.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">En in dat verband laat Christus ook het woord ‘gebod’ vallen: als je Mij liefhebt, dan houd je je aan Mijn geboden. Op dat punt zit er in de vriendschap iets onvermijdelijk onomkeerbaars. Dat krijg je wanneer een koning vriendschap met je sluit. Liefde en gebod komen niet van twee verschillende planeten. Als wat jij doet niet zaligmakend is, en als je niet hoeft te scoren om door God aanvaard te worden, wat blijft er dan nog over als motivering om te leven zoals Hij het wil? Er is maar een antwoord, dat in zijn eenvoud omgekeerd evenredig is aan de moeite die wij mensen hebben om het in praktijk te brengen: liefde.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphBody">De liefde maakt de gehoorzaamheid mogelijk en dragelijk, ook wanneer het zwaar valt. Hoe meer je Christus liefhebt, hoe meer je onder de indruk bent van Zijn bijzondere persoonlijkheid, hoe meer je Hem aanbidt, des te minder zwaar zal het je vallen je aan Zijn geboden te houden, belooft Hij. Je doet het voor Iemand die je zeer dierbaar is geworden. Dat is het best bewaarde geheim van het nieuwe leven. Daarvoor woont Hij met Zijn Geest in je, zodat je Hem nooit uit het oog en uit het hart hoeft te verliezen. Daarom staan er in het Nieuwe Testament maar liefst vier levensbeschrijvingen van Christus (Evangeliën), die je ieder voor zich kunnen helpen je kennis van Hem te verdiepen.<br /><br />In de gedeelten in de Bijbel waar het gebod de toon zet, kom je - als je goed kijkt - telkens een vlag van het Evangelie tegen. Soms bestaat die vlag uit niet meer dan een paar woorden, zoals ‘Ik ben de Heer’ (in het Oude Testament), of ‘in Christus’ (in het Nieuwe Testament). In andere gevallen worden meer woorden gebruikt om het Evangelie voor de geest te halen, in het Oude Testament bijvoorbeeld het verhaal van de bevrijding uit Egypte (een korte versie helemaal aan het begin van de Tien Geboden, een langere versie aan het slot van Deuteronomium 6), in het Nieuwe Testament een aspect of moment uit het leven van Christus (bij de nieuwe versie van het liefdegebod: ‘heb elkaar lief, zoals ik jullie heb liefgehad’).</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphTitle">Leven in een tegencultuur</div> <div class="paragraphBody">Het Koninkrijk waar Christus het voor het zeggen heeft, schept een eigen cultuur, met eigen normen en waarden. Op sommige punten lijkt die cultuur op andere culturen, op andere punten staat ze er dwars op. Zo’n gebied waar de cultuur van het Koninkrijk dwars staat op veel andere culturen, is dat van de seksualiteit. Dat was al zo in het Oude Testament. De viering van de menselijke seksualiteit is ingebed in de relatie tussen een man en een vrouw, al vanaf het begin van de schepping, en daarmee zijn allerlei andere vormen van de viering van seksualiteit niet toegestaan. Ook vormen die in omringende culturen toegestaan waren (soms wel onder beperkende voorwaarden), zoals homoseksualiteit.<br /><br />Christus en de apostelen trekken in het Nieuwe Testament die lijnen door. Soms worden dingen anders in dat proces. Polygamie wordt niet langer gedoogd. Je maakt je al schuldig aan een vorm van echtbreuk wanneer je met begeerte naar iemand kijkt. Maar ook: ongetrouwd zijn krijgt een veel positievere status dan in vele andere godsdiensten of culturen; je kunt zelfs ongetrouwd blijven ‘met het oog op het Koninkrijk’. In andere gevallen worden lijnen doorgetrokken zonder dat er iets verandert. In de Grieks-Romeinse cultuur kwamen eerbiedwaardige vormen van homoseksuele relaties voor die het moderne ideaal van gelijkwaardigheid en stabiliteit benaderden. Maar in de cultuur van het Koninkrijk is er voor zulke vormen van viering van de menselijke seksualiteit geen plaats.</div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <div class="paragraphTitle">Leven met perspectief</div> <div class="paragraphBody">Het Koninkrijk van Christus zet de werkelijkheid van het mensenbestaan in een eigen perspectief, ook als je homofiel bent. Je bent onderweg, met als eindbestemming: de ontmoeting met God in Zijn volle heerlijkheid. Als je de sprekers en schrijvers in het Nieuwe Testament mag geloven, wordt dat een ervaring die wat betreft schoonheid en intensiteit alles overtreft. Verwondering, aanbidding, lofprijzing, dat zijn woorden die de beleving van die ontmoeting beschrijven.<br /><br />Christus is al voor je uit gegaan. Zijn eigen leven wijst de weg. Wanneer je je in het leven van Christus verdiept, dan zie je een patroon: de weg naar de heerlijkheid gaat dwars door lijden heen. Het lijden was in het leven van Christus onvermijdelijk, en zo is het ook in het leven van wie achter Hem aan gaat. Achter Christus aan gaan betekent je kruis op je nemen, afzien, zelfverloochening, pijn.<br /><br />Het Evangelie leert je dat te benoemen als ‘delen in het lijden’. Een christen lijdt niet in een vacuüm. Je lijdt met Christus, met je medechristenen, en ook met je medemensen in de wereld. Het lijden blijft lijden, maar het staat in een perspectief. Christenen door de eeuwen heen hebben vanwege dat perspectief ervoor gekozen het vermijden van lijden niet tot het hoogste doel te verklaren. Ook dat hoort bij de tegencultuur van het Koninkrijk van de Koning die vanwege de vreugde die Hem in het vooruitzicht was gezet het kruis doorstaan heeft.<br />Lijden is niet het eind van het verhaal. Vreugde heeft het laatste woord. Niet alleen in een toekomst ver weg. Ook onderweg zijn er al momenten waarop een christen iets van die vreugde proeft. Omdat hij Iemand kent die Zijn leven voor hem over had. De Koning die je vriend wil zijn.</div> </div> <div class="paragraphTitle">Ideaal en werkelijkheid</div> Een ideaalbeeld dat mijlenver van de werkelijkheid afstaat. Die indruk kan ontstaan bij lezing van het bovenstaande. Het Evangelie gebruiken - wordt dat nu een soort wondermiddel voor homofiele christenen? En met Jezus als je vriend, zijn dan ineens alle problemen opgelost? Zo is het natuurlijk niet. Het gaat ook over een telkens weer oplaaiend gevecht, de moeite die iemand kan hebben met het aanvaarden van Christus, en met het liefhebben van Christus, de onvermijdelijkheid van lijden, afzien, zelfverloochening, pijn.<br /><br />En op dat punt kan de christelijke gemeente helpen. In de eerste plaats door het gemak waarmee wij met zijn allen ons tevreden stellen met halfslachtigheid in het navolgen van Christus, tegen het licht van het Evangelie te houden. We sluiten zo gemakkelijk compromissen, de een op het gebied van geld en spullen, een ander waar het gaat om idealen als dienstbaarheid en naastenliefde, of de roeping van een christen met het Evangelie de wereld in te gaan, en ook op het punt van seksualiteit en huwelijk.<br /><br />In zo’n getemd christendom komt het ongeloofwaardig over wanneer op bepaalde punten opeens wel radicaliteit gevraagd wordt. Dan gaan mensen zich afvragen waarom homoseksualiteit een uitzonderingspositie krijgt, terwijl er op andere punten wel rek blijkt te zitten en comprommissen in de christelijke gemeente gedoogd worden. Is het dan zo vreemd dat het christendom zijn aantrekkingskracht en uitstraling verliest, en homofiele mensen weglopen?<br /><br />Samen het Evangelie gebruiken kan ook voorkomen dat homofilie een ‘wij-zij’-kwestie wordt: wij hetero’s tegenover zij homo’s, of wij homo’s tegenover zij hetero’s, waarbij de een zich anders of superieur voelt ten opzichte van de ander. Het meest bepalende voor de identiteit van iedere christen, is dat je een door God aanvaard en geliefd kind bent. Dat is iets wat je deelt met alle broeders en zusters in de gemeente, homo of hetero.<br /><br />Binnen de gemeente hebben we elkaar nodig om te leren het Evangelie te gebruiken in het gevecht tegen de de wereld, de duivel en ons eigen vlees. Anders komen we niet verder dan elkaar de geboden en verboden voor te houden. Samen het Evangelie gebruiken kan op verschillende manieren ingevuld worden. In mijn geval betekent dat ondermeer dat ik zo'n twee keer per maand met twee broeders bijeenkom om te bidden. Ze weten van mijn homoseksuele geaardheid, soms komt het ter sprake, maar er kunnen ook probleemloos maanden voorbijgaan waarin we voor elkaar, kerk en wereld bidden, zonder dat het aan de orde komt. Ik heb mij aan een van die twee verplicht te melden wanneer er dingen gebeuren die mij in een hogere alarmfase brengen, en hem de vrijheid gegeven alle vragen te stellen rond mijn homofilie die hij op een bepaald moment goed vindt.<br />Sommigen vinden zoiets misschien een vorm van geestelijke curatele, ikzelf zie het als priesterschap van alle gelovigen.<br /><br />Zo heeft God het gewild: wij moeten Zijn levend Woord zoeken en vinden in het getuigenis van de broeders en uit de mond van mensen. Daarom heeft de ene christen de ander nodig, die hem het Woord van God brengt. En steeds weer heeft hij de ander nodig, als hij onzeker wordt en de moed verliest. Want uit zichzelf kan hij zichzelf niet helpen, zonder zich in de waarheid te vergissen. Hij heeft de broeder nodig als de drager en verkondiger van het goddelijk heilswoord, en hij heeft hem alleen nodig om Christus’ wil. Christus in het eigen hart is zwakker dan Christus in het hart van de broeder; het eerste is onzeker, het tweede is zeker.<br />Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in: ‘Verborgen omgang [Gemeenschapsleven]’.drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-77521958521734961092007-02-24T20:05:00.000+01:002008-11-13T17:29:22.961+01:00The Geo-Communication Model<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cLAG0kGmw1z-7qJIuYXDshnnTT4dZq7epA0s21e4tsyyrMxFU-kJELl-8eKbhEfWFdPw0uapzrNqutX9PY4NrVZEEcy5hw30HRfgYL8P6ELPZ3Y9Fot4JqRlOFePn7OpuAZXGGkF_Rc/s1600-h/Geocommunicationmodel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 429px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cLAG0kGmw1z-7qJIuYXDshnnTT4dZq7epA0s21e4tsyyrMxFU-kJELl-8eKbhEfWFdPw0uapzrNqutX9PY4NrVZEEcy5hw30HRfgYL8P6ELPZ3Y9Fot4JqRlOFePn7OpuAZXGGkF_Rc/s320/Geocommunicationmodel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035179494769050658" border="0" /></a></span><br /></div>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8687592984529634610.post-4145834777793611012007-02-24T19:31:00.000+01:002007-02-24T19:45:46.248+01:00A Model for Literary Communication<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><a name="model"></a> </span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >In analogy to the communication model applied in linguistics to face-to-face interaction (sender – message – receiver), literary scholars have come up with a model for literary communication. (For a schematised representation of this model see the </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm#animation"><span class="internlinks"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">animation</span></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >According to this model, literary production and reception obviously require at least two participants: someone who writes a literary text and someone who reads it. The<a name="text"></a> literary text itself functions as <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">message</span></strong> between author and reader. Of course, the term message must not be taken literally. It would be absurd to imagine that an author two hundred years ago, for example, sent a message to me, the present-day reader. However, literary texts are usually created for an audience, and by the same token literary texts only come to life when they are actually received by a readership. That author and reader are spatially and temporally deferred from one another in most cases must of course be kept in mind. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >The message is conveyed in a specific material shape, e.g., as a book, a stage script, a screenplay, an audio tape, video or nowadays on the internet or CD-Rom. In other words: The channel or medium through which the literary text is presented can vary significantly. Nevertheless, literary texts depend on certain conventions of both producing and receiving literature. I always apply certain strategies when reading a novel, for example, such as accepting its <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">fictionality</span></strong> or perhaps special uses of language, while I also bring to bear predefined expectations on literary texts. For example, we usually set our 'autopilot' on poetry-reading mode if we see a text which presents itself in the shape of a poem. Likewise, authors follow literary conventions when they create a piece of literature or they deliberately defy these conventions to create something new and innovative. At<a name="code"></a> any rate, there is always some reference to what we might call the <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">code</span></strong> of literary production and reception, i.e., rules for writing and reading texts. A banal and yet extremely important aspect is the fact that author and reader must share a language for communication to work at all. Another part of the literary code would be the way we classify literary texts in terms of <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">genre</span></strong>. Needless to say that literary codes can change over time (as languages and cultures generally do) and that different periods have used different classificatory systems. This is also one of the reasons why literary texts themselves change: They accommodate in some way or another to the existing literary code, even if they ostensibly move away from it.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >The context of literary production and reception thus becomes very important. Both readers and authors are situated in a specific place, historical time and cultural context, which of course influence the way they read and write. At the same time, the literary text also refers to the external world either by imitating what can be found there or by creating an alternative world. <a name="refere"></a><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Reference</span></strong> is a term used in linguistics to denote the relationship between a sign and the object it signifies. While this narrow concept is problematic for literary studies because objects and persons in a story-world, for example, do not strictly speaking refer to ‘real’ objects or people, the concept is useful if one allows for relationships between signs and mental models, concepts, ideas, etc. The reference of a literary text to the world is thus never direct but is always aesthetically mediated, i.e., it is embedded in certain literary conventions and makes use of special linguistic codes. </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Michael Ondaatje</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >’s bestseller, <em><span style="font-family:Arial;">The English Patient</span></em>, for example, undoubtedly depicts circumstances and events related to World War II but it does it in such a way as to leave enough room for poetic renditions of the characters’ emotions and experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Literary studies investigate various aspects of the processes shown in the communication model. Thus, one can look at the relationship between author and text or reader and text, one can focus on the text itself or on how it is embedded in its socio-historical and cultural contexts. Scholars have also considered the literary code and what it entails. In sum, one can say that literary studies offer a wide range of topic areas for research activities, and this introductory course can only provide a very first glimpse of what is actually out there. The next section gives a preliminary overview of some of the study areas within literary studies.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Topic Areas of Literary Studies</span></strong><a name="TopicAeras"></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >This online course aims to provide an introduction to the tools for the analysis of literary texts. Like any other academic discipline, literary studies also have a set of clearly defined terms which can be applied when reading and discussing literary texts. These terms are often genre-specific, i.e., they are used particularly in the context of drama or narrative analysis or the analysis of poetic texts. Examples would be 'stage conventions', 'narrative voice' and 'prosody'. There are also a number of terms and analytical categories, however, which can be equally applied to various genres, e.g., 'character', 'setting', 'time', 'plot', etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Apart from such analytical tools, students of English literature should be familiar with some other major concepts:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >• </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm#Lit"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Literary History</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><br />• </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm#Gen"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Poetics and Genre</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><br />• </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Theory01.htm"><span class="internlinks"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Literary Theory</span></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Literary History</span></strong><a name="Lit"></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Names of literary epochs or periods have mostly been ‘invented’ in retrospect. The underlying assumptions are based on certain common features, not merely of texts but of socio-cultural developments and phases in the history of literary production. In English literature, historians for convenience often use the name of the sovereign in power at a certain time. Thus, they speak about the </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Elizabethan Age</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > or the </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Victorian Period</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >. Sometimes, approximately the same period of time can have various names, depending on the perspective adopted by the historian. The Elizabethan Age, for example, is also referred to as the <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Early Modern Period</span></strong> or the <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Renaissance</span></strong>. While the term 'Early Modern' focuses on the historical process of modernisation, 'Renaissance' is a term borrowed from art history and captures the idea of the ‘re-birth’ of antiquity in various art forms of the sixteenth century. Labels can also vary across nationalities. While in English, for example, 'Victorian Period' is a widely-used general label for the time between 1832 and the late nineteenth century, scholars of German literature have focused more on people’s attitudes, political developments and modes of writing in their classifications and therefore use different labels to denote shorter time spans of roughly the same period, e.g., </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Biedermeier</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Vormärz</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Realismus</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Naturalismus</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >. This example shows that labelling a literary period is often at the discretion of the literary historian and largely depends on which aspects a scholar considers important. Nonetheless, even though exact numbers, names and dates vary in books of literary history, one can come up with a general list of periods which underlies common practice (from Abrams 1999: 210):<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >450-1066 <a name="old"></a>Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) Period</span></strong><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1066-1500 <a name="middle"></a>Middle English Period</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1500-1660 </span></strong></span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > <a name="rene"></a><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">The Renaissance (or Early Modern Period)</span></strong><br /> 1558-1603 Elizabethan Age<br /> 1603-1625 Jacobean Age<br /> 1625-1649 Caroline Age<br /> 1649-1660 Commonwealth Period (or Puritan Interregnum)<br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1660-1785 </span></strong> <a name="neocl"></a><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">The Neoclassical Period</span></strong><br /> 1660-1700 The Restoration<br /> 1700-1745 The Augustan Age (or Age of Pope)<br /> 1745-1785 The Age of Sensibility (or Age of Johnson)<br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1785-1830 <a name="romantic"></a>The Romantic Period</span></strong><b><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1832-1901 <a name="victorian"></a>The Victorian Period</span></strong></b><br /> 1848-1860 The Pre-Raphaelites<br /> 1880-1901 Aestheticism and Decadence<br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1901-1914 <a name="edwardian"></a>The Edwardian Period</span></strong><b><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1910-1936 <a name="georgian"></a>The Georgian Period</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">1914- <a name="modern"></a>The Modern Period</span></strong><br /></b> 1945- Postmodernism<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >One must not forget that periods are categories which do not necessarily encompass clearly demarcated time spans. Since literary developments evolve gradually and are often based on the co-existence of diverse movements, periods inevitably also overlap. As their names suggest, periods derive their labels from divergent sources. Frequently, they are analogous to philosophical movements such as the Age of Sensibility. Sometimes periods are named after artistic avantgarde movements which also express the predominant mood of the time, e.g.,<span class="internlinks"> </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Aestheticism</span></strong><span class="internlinks"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> and </span></span><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Decadence</span></strong></a></span><span class="internlinks"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >.</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > The </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Romantic Period</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > <span lang="EN-GB">derives its name from a genre, the <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">medieval romance</span></strong> or <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">chivalric romance</span></strong>, which was popular at the time and set an example with its fantastic and exaggerated subject matters. </span></span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Postmodernism</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > is given its name because it succeeds and goes beyond </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Modernism</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > in terms of literary conventions, philosophical assumptions, etc. No matter which names literary periods are given, they are selected according to shared criteria and features which are considered characteristic of the time. A division into literary periods is useful for our understanding and discussion of connections between literary and socio-historical developments. They help us compare texts within one period and also across periods. Nevertheless, they should not become coathangers for simplistic assumptions or even clichés. Therefore, good books on literary history set out very clearly right from the beginning what their motivating force is and why they arrived at a certain form of periodisation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >One study area which is influenced by historical developments is the area of poetics and genres since the conventions for writing literary texts and for setting up individual genre categories and genre systems depend on their socio-cultural context and thus change over time.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Poetics and Genre</span></strong><a name="Gen"></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Ever since </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Aristotle</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >’s <i>Poetics</i>, if not before, scholars have been concerned with classifying literary texts according to predefined categories. The groups or classes of texts have been labelled by means of group-specific names. Thus, Aristotle already divided ancient plays into <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">tragedies</span></strong> and <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">comedies</span></strong> and attributed certain features to each type of drama. The labels we attach to groups of texts with similar or correlated features can be summarised under the heading <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">genre</span></strong>. The three major generic groups are <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">prose fiction</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">drama</span></strong> and <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">poetry</span></strong>. One must of course bear in mind that genres and genre systems are subject to historical changes and by no means closed categories.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><a name="conventions"></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Genres are defined by certain <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">conventions</span></strong>, common recurring features which texts display. These features can be formal or structural or they can relate to themes and topics or forms of presentation. Thus, prose fiction is generally defined by the fact that it is not written in verse like poetry, for example, and that it is narrative while drama normally includes the direct presentation of a scene on stage. If one starts collecting features for each genre, one will soon find exceptions and it becomes clear that the boundaries of genres are blurred. In certain periods, people were not very strict about the limitations of different genres, as can be seen in the following quote from </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Shakespeare</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >’s <em><span style="font-family:Arial;">Hamlet</span></em>, where Polonius introduces the actors who have just arrived at the Danish court:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="quote"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >The best actors in the world, either for <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">tragedy</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">comedy</span></strong>, </span><span class="internlinks"><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">history</span></a></span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">pastoral</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited. (<em><span style="font-family:Arial;">Hamlet</span></em>, II, 2: 392-396)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Although plays in the </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Early Modern Period</span></a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > seemingly crossed generic boundaries, the basic major categories are still valid and are used as frames of reference. This is one of the main functions of genres: Genres allow us to talk about groups of texts rather than just listing individual examples. They help us communicate about structural and thematic features and enable us to state similarities as well as differences between texts. We can discuss the diachronic development of genres, i.e., throughout history, and see how the individual historical contexts shaped forms of drama, prose fiction and poetry. Put another way, the concept of genre helps us approach literary texts. Authors usually construct their texts within certain genre conventions. By labelling a text a 'tragedy' for example, they raise certain expectations in readers or spectators. These expectations can then be met or disappointed. Keeping generic features in mind, one should therefore always also look for deviations from standard patterns because this is often where a literary text is particularly innovative and interesting and where interpretations can yield fascinating results. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Over<a name="subgenre"></a> the centuries, analysis has become more and more fine-grained and consequently numerous <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">sub-genres</span></strong> have been identified for each main category. Again, historical developments play an important role. Some sub-genres, like the <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">romance</span></strong> for example, have become less popular, while there is always a possibility for new sub-genres to emerge. The following tree diagram shows prose fiction and some of its sub-genres:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 14%;" width="14%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /></td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 20%;" width="20%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /></td> <td colspan="2" style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Prose Fiction</span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 30%;" width="30%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /></td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 7%;" width="7%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /></td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td colspan="6" style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:formulas> <v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"> <o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style="'width:472.5pt;"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\michael\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.gif" href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Pictures/Sonstiges/Vielfachpfeilunten.gif"> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif" shapes="_x0000_i1025" border="0" height="39" width="630" /><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Romance</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" > <a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Novel</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 15%;" width="15%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Novella</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Short Story</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >etc.</span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td colspan="6" style="padding: 0.75pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style="'width:472.5pt;height:29.25pt'"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\michael\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image002.gif" href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Pictures/Sonstiges/Vielfachpfeilnovel.gif"> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif" shapes="_x0000_i1026" border="0" height="39" width="630" /><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 29.25pt;"> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; height: 29.25pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Historical Novel</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; height: 29.25pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Bildungsroman (Novel of Education)</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 14%; height: 29.25pt;" width="14%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Social Novel</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; height: 29.25pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Gothic Novel</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; height: 29.25pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm">Epistolary Novel</a></span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; height: 29.25pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >etc</span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >The other two main generic groups, poetry and drama, can of course also be subdivided into numerous sub-genres: </span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">ballad</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">sonnet</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">ode</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >or <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">comedy, tragedy, </span></strong></span><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">satire</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">tragicomedy</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, </span></strong><span class="internlinks"><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://www.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Basic02.htm"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">epic theatre</span></a></span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >, etc. What one ought to bear in mind is that, although genres are defined according to common characteristic features, the allocation of texts to certain genres is still ultimately our decision. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Sometimes, texts pose difficulties because they cannot be classified as belonging to one definite category. Where does one place 'long narratives' such as Joseph Conrad's <em><span style="font-family:Arial;">Heart of Darkness</span></em> or Henry James' <em><span style="font-family:Arial;">The Turn of the Screw</span></em>, for example: novella, novel or short story? For this reason, one also has to be careful not to oversimplify generic terms. In everyday parlance, people often use words like these in an undifferentiated way: “Oh, that accident was so tragic!” or “They had quite a little romance going on”. <a name="litcom"></a>Nonetheless, generic terms in literary studies are very useful since genres form part of readers' and writers' <strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">literary competence</span></strong> at a given time. Literary competence encompasses people's ability to produce and understand literary texts and their knowledge about literary texts in general. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >The classification of genres is of course guided by theoretical considerations, and it is not only for this reason that literary theory must hold a place in an introduction. </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p>drs. Michael Gerard Maeriënhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02736280230246257612noreply@blogger.com