Kai von Fintel on Language, Semantics and Possible Worlds | Episode 5

16/06/2020 1h 14min Episodio 5
Kai von Fintel on Language, Semantics and Possible Worlds | Episode 5

Listen "Kai von Fintel on Language, Semantics and Possible Worlds | Episode 5"

Episode Synopsis

Professor Kai von Fintel is a world-leading linguist (Section Head at MIT) who is well known for his contributions to Semantics, an academic fields which sits at the intersection of many disciplines which is typically concerned with the meaning of linguistic expressions. He is the co-founder of the open access journal Semantics & Pragmatics. You can find more about his work on his website: https://www.kaivonfintel.org Conversation Outline: 00:00 Introduction00:18 What is special about language? 03:31 How did we (as a species) get linguistic abilities?05:24 What do people who work in Semantics do? 09:19 How can babies pick up language? 15:07 What is the meaning of words? Aren’t they just dictionary entries? 19:03 On idiolects 27:00 The meanings of sentences33:43 What are possible worlds? Are they the same as the many-worlds of quantum theory? 39:52 Differences between ‘school’ grammar, syntax and formal logic49:07 What is the meaning of ‘if’? 01:04:54 Does the research of Semanticists impact the field of Computational Linguistics?01:07:39 The relationship between thought and languageTwitter: https://twitter.com/tedynenuApple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/philosophical-trials/id1513707135Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Sz88leU8tmeKe3MAZ9i10Google Podcasts:https://podcasts.google.com/?q=philosophical%20trialsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedynenu/

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