Against Nativist Language Concepts: Lawrence Krader on the Diversity, Culturality, and Creativity of Language(3 Lawrence Krader’s Legacy in Science, History and Philosophy)

Dive into the pioneering work of Lawrence Krader (1919–1998), the trailblazing American ethnologist and philosopher, who challenged conventional linguistics with unparalleled fervor. This edited volume unveils Krader’s unpublished manuscripts and essays in linguistics and semantics, where he critiques innate language theories, universal grammar, and biolinguistics championed by Chomsky and others. Krader’s comparative exploration of human language and animal communication illuminates the intricacies of the human use of symbols and intentionality. He highlights the uniqueness of speech by contrasting the dynamic duality of social interactions with mechanistic computerized languages and artificial intelligence. Finally, Krader presents captivating etymological and semantic interpretations of famed works by Shakespeare and Goethe that emphasize the creativity and inventive nature of the human mind in meaning-making. This volume will appeal to all those interested in Lawrence Krader’s life and work, as well as researchers and students working on linguistics and semantics.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Cyril Levitt — Preface by Sabine Sander — Introduction by Sabine Sander — Part I — On Ancient and Modern Doctrines of Language: Language and Communication — On Modern Doctrines of Language. Linguistics and Wilhelm von Humboldt — Language as Ergon and Energeia — On the Widening of Human Perspectives— Human universals, universal grammar — Part II — On the Social Origin of Language — Linguistic Theory — Theory of Language — Innate Language — Noetic and Linguistic Science. Sign and Symbol — Part III — On Language — Language. A Mediate System of Human Communication and Expression — Human Communication — Language, Expression and Form. Language and Society — Formal Analysis of Language — The Word. The Unit of Sense and Meaning — The Social Value of the Word — Semantics. Words and Meanings — Names, Identity, Meaning. Necessity and Truth. Theory of Reference — Synchronic and Diachronic Language Processes — Language and Thought — Part IV — Actuality and Potentiality — Semantics – A Science or not? — Semantics, a Science or not? Part 2 — Semantics, A Science — Language and Intellection I: Semantic Universals — Language and Intellection, II: Semantics — Language and Intellection, III: Sense and Meaning — On Meaning — The Science of Meaning — The Science of Meaning, part 2 — The Science of Meaning, part 3 — Theory of Semantics, part 1 — Theory of Semantics, part 2 — Theory of Meaning, part 3 — Semantics, the Science of Meaning, 2 — Semantics. Signal, Sign, and Symbol — Semantics. Meaning – Expression and Communication — Semantics. The Error of Omenism — Poetic Invention and Discovery — Shakespeare, Antony, and Cleopatra — Rules of Affective and Cognitive Language in Poetry — Goethe. Word, Thought and Act — References — Index of Persons

About the Author :
Sabine Sander is an Academic Research Associate and former Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University. She teaches Cultural Studies and Philosophy at the University of Koblenz in Germany. She received her PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Leipzig and is the author of Dialogische Verantwortung (2017) for which she earned the Max Weber Award.