Experiencers—grammatical participants that undergo a certain psychological change or are in such a state—are grammatically special. As objects (John scared Mary; loud music annoys me), experiencers display two peculiar clusters of nonobject properties across different languages: their syntax is often typical of oblique arguments and their semantic scope is typical of subjects. In The Locati…
This account of the creation of new forms of life and intelligence in the sciences of cybernetics, artificial life and artificial intelligence analyses both their similarities and their differences in actualising life. The author draws on the work of scientists as well as work in contemporary philosophy and cultural theory.
A study of two bridges between science and society: governmental science policy and scientists' voluntary public-interest associations. According to a widespread stereotype, scientists occupy an ivory tower, isolated from other parts of society. To some extent this is true, and the resulting freedom to pursue curiosity-driven research has made possible extraordinary scientific advances. The spi…
Illustrated critical essays on the work of artist James Coleman.James Coleman has emerged in recent years as one of the most important artists of visual postmodernism. His work has transformed critical debates about the status of the image in contemporary culture and influenced an entire generation of younger artists in ways that have not yet been fully acknowledged. Until recently, Coleman has…
The sound pattern of Japanese, with its characteristic pitch accent system and rich segmental alternations, has played an important role in modern phonology, from structuralist phonemics to current constraint-based theories. In Japanese Morphophonemics, Junko Ito and Armin Mester provide the first book-length treatment of central issues in Japanese phonology from the perspective of Optimality T…
A blueprint for the investigation of neurodevelopmental disorders, this book presents the work of a team of scientists using a multidisciplinary, integrated approach to link genes with human behavior. Using Williams syndrome as a model, leading researchers in neuroanatomy, neurocognition, neurophysiology, and molecular genetics have built bridges between disciplines to link higher cognitive fun…
The essays in this collection celebrate Ken Hale's lifelong study of underdocumented languages and their implications for universal grammar. The authors report their latest research in syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology, and phonetics.ContributorsElena Anagnostopoulou, Noam Chomsky, Michel DeGraff, Kai von Fintel, Morris Halle, James Harris, Sabine Iatridou, Roumyana Izvorski, Michael Ken…
This is the only contemporary text to cover both epistemology and philosophy of mind at an introductory level. It also serves as a general introduction to philosophy: it discusses the nature and methods of philosophy as well as basic logical tools of the trade. The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on knowledge, in particular, skepticism and knowledge of the external world, an…
Looking at ways to encode prior knowledge and to extract, refine, and revise knowledge within a neurocomputing system.Neurocomputing methods are loosely based on a model of the brain as a network of simple interconnected processing elements corresponding to neurons. These methods derive their power from the collective processing of artificial neurons, the chief advantage being that such systems…
Modeling and implementing dynamical systems is a central problem in artificial intelligence, robotics, software agents, simulation, decision and control theory, and many other disciplines. In recent years, a new approach to representing such systems, grounded in mathematical logic, has been developed within the AI knowledge-representation community. This book presents a comprehensive treatment …