ABSTRACT
The present book is a collection of scholarly reflections on the theme of humanism from an integrational linguistic perspective. It studies humanist thought in relation to the philosophy of language and communication underpinning it and considers the question whether being a ‘humanist’ binds one to a particular view of language. The contributions to this volume explore whether integrational linguistics, being informed by a non-mainstream semiology and adopting a lay linguistic perspective, can provide better answers to contentious ontological and epistemological questions concerning the humanist project – questions having to do with the self, reason, authenticity, creativity, free agency, knowledge and human communication. The humanist perspectives adopted by the contributors to this volume are critical insofar as they start from semiological assumptions that challenge received notions within mainstream linguistics, such as the belief that languages are fixed-codes of some kind, that communication serves the purpose of thought transfer, and that languages are prerequisites for communication.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|9 pages
part II|66 pages
Integrating humanism
chapter 2|15 pages
Secular humanist discourses on rationality
chapter 4|18 pages
The nature of language and the language of nature
part III|55 pages
Integrating linguistics
part IV|38 pages
Integrating systems and agency
part V|64 pages
Integrating freedom and creativity
chapter 13|23 pages
Emotional labour and the neoliberal entrepreneurial self at work and in the home
part VI|30 pages
Integrating humanist models of education