Wolfgang Wildgen

Catastrophe Theoretic Semantics: An elaboration and application of René Thom's theory

Rene Thom, the famous French mathematician and founder of catastrophe theory, considered linguistics an exemplary field for the application of his general morphology. It is surprising that physicists, chemists, biologists, psychologists and sociologists are all engaged in the field of catastrophe theory, but that there has been almost no echo from linguistics. Meanwhile linguistics has evolved in the direction of Rene Thom’s intuitions about an integrated science of language and it has become a necessary task to review, update and elaborate the proposals made by Thom and to embed them in the framework of modern semantic theory.

Basic Principles of Self-Organization in Language

This article discusses three levels on which language is outside conscious control and therefore self-organized depending on conditions of the cognitive or the social system (the linguistic community). Three basic types of self-organization are discussed: simple morphogenetic fields which may be modelled by catastrophe theory, dynamic reorganizations and cooperative self-organization showing limit cycles and synergetic principles of slaving.

Natural Ontologies And Semantic Roles In Sentences

My central concern in the treatment of Hartmann’s “New Ontology” will be the role of language and other “symbolic forms” (in the terms of Cassirer’s “Philosophie der symbolischen Formen”, 1923–1929). The major strata (Schichten) in Hartmann’s ontology are called “well-know in their contours” by himself. Nun bildet die Mannigfaltigkeit der Formen offenbar ein Stufenreich, dessen Rangordnung im groben wohlbekannt ist: Ding, Pflanze, Tier, Mensch, Gemeinschaft. (Hartmann, 1964: 36) 1 Although the transitions to plants, to animals and mainly the more recent one to man are highly problematic, there is some consensus that they are relevant as transitions. The transition between man and the community of men or even to historically evolving “Volksgemeinschaften” (ibid.) is highly controversial on one side because the time scale is evolutionarily so narrow: from millions of years almost to centuries, on the other side because this transition fails to be inclusive: If man shares features (e.g., physiological and genetic features) with animals and plants this does not hold for the couple: man – community. In 1933 Hartmann tells us in his “Systematische Selbstdarstellung”. Der Gemeingeist ist von keinem Gemeinbewustsein getragen, sondern nur von individuellem Bewustsein. Und dieses gerade hat, so zeigte sich, keineswegs die Tragkraft fur ihn. So bleibt seine Seinsweise in aller Durchleuchtung des Phanomens eine metaphysischratselvolle. (Hartmann, 1933/1955: 35) 2 It is, nevertheless, this transition which separates “Seele” (soul) and “Geist”(mind) and circumscribes the area of the “Geisteswissenschaften” to which philosophy and semiotics belong. “Geist” may be characterized as transcendental in relation to the (individual) “soul”. Er [Geist] transzendiert die Enge der Bewustseinssphare in der Mitteilbarkeit, im Ubergreifen von Subjekt zu Subjekt, in der Tradierbarkeit von Generation zu Generation;

Geometry and Dynamics in the Art of Leonardo da Vinci

art gave up the realism implied by Leonardos theory of art and abandoned narrative contents and recognizable representations. Did geometry and dynamics lose their relevance in this context? It is true that spatial illusion, the major effect of the correct use of linear perspective, either became secondary or was replaced as artists put the accent on the two-dimensional nature of paintings, the relevance of texture and the balance of colored surfaces, characteristically in the work of Cézanne (18391906) and van Gogh (1853—1890). As a consequence the geometry of the plane and the dynamics of strokes and lines came to the foreground. The trend towards abstraction and minimalism enforced the geometrical and dynamic features; in a sense it eliminated many attributional and representational processes dependent on specific cultural presuppositions. In the synthetic cubism of Picasso (1881-1973) new artificial perspectives, and modes of integration of parts to wholes, appeared. The parts, such as of a body or plant, were still representational, but the composition was artificial in relation to everyday experience. When Kandinsky (1866-1944) devised his first abstract paintings, or when Pollock (1912-1956) created his action paintings, geometrical order seemed to disappear, and stochastic (noisy) patterns and irregularity seemed to dominate. Nevertheless, geometry did not disappear. Since the mid 19th century new models of geometry (non-Euclidean and hybrid geometries) and new types of dynamics (non-linear and chaotic dynamics) have been formally described. In relation to these geometries, Picassos cubistic paintings and Pollocks dripping actions correspond to geometrical and dynamic principles in a similar way to Leonardos paintings; i.e., the link between mathematics and art is still existent and productive. It is clear that the higher attributional levels were not just cancelled; they were replaced by new and often very complicated attributions, referring to specific cultural experiences in a global and rapidly changing world. Most of modern art criticism tries to analyze these often very unstable and unpredictable processes. This has the consequence that such analyses cannot cope with the standards of modem experimental and mathematically structured sciences. The underpinning of the attributional processes by geometrical and dynamical

LANGUAGE EVOLUTION AS A CASCADE OF BEHAVIORIAL BIFURCATIONS

The evolution of human language probably passed several gateways or decisive periods. Our aim is to show that they have the form of a cascade of bifurcations, i.e. of binary choices. At each step small causal constellations may have decided on which way to go. This explains the overall improbability of a phenomenon like human language in the animal kingdom (which was and is the major argument of creationists). The hierarchy and temporal sequence of “decisions” (Darwinian principles were the deciders) gives us a hint at the architecture of human language. In particular the emergence of verbal valence (argument structure, constructions), of subjectpredicate constellations and syntactic devices can be explained as a result of these evolutionary steps. We presume that throughout the evolution basic schemata of (manual) action, like the GRASP-schema were of central importance for the conceptual unfolding of human language.

Sculpture, Diagram, and Language in the Artwork of Joseph Beuys

The artwork of Joseph Beuys was provocative in his time. Although he was very successful on the international art scene and on the art market, the larger public is still bewildered by his Fat Chair or his installations and his performances. The article shows the evolution of his artwork from classical materials (stone, steel) to soft materials (animals, products of animals) and further to his concept of “social sculpture” and to programmatic diagrams (with words and graphics). A special point of interest is the transition towards language (phonic and conceptual), the philosophy of art exposed in his drawings, and diagrams and the relation between art and science in his artwork.

The Cultural Individuation of Human Language Capacity and the Morphogenesis of Basic Argument-Schemata

Language capacity unites all existent human populations. Therefore its morphogenetic field must have originated with the species Homo sapiens (ca. 200,000 y BP). We assume that at the origin this field was only poorly expressed (via some protolanguage), but unfolded with the rise of human cultures (technologies, art, myth and other symbolic media). This development occurred in the last 100,000 y. In this context, Thom’s criticism of evolutionary theory in Darwinian terms can be reconsidered. He accepts the Darwinian principles but adds the role of morphogenesis and individuation. This article sketches the morphogenesis of basic sentence (argument) structures applying results of morphodynamics and the individuation of linguistic tools in phonemics, lexicon and grammar.

Wege in die Stadt oder das Lesen der Stadt als Zeichen

SummaryThe town, its streets and buildings are analysed from a dynamic point of view, which is a multiple one. It may consider the factors which led to the birth, growth and complexification of the town (the morphogenetic perspective). In this case the »meaning« of the town is reduced to basic environmental and social factors (forces, attractors). In the heart of a town relevant concentrations of urban meanings occur and are made visible in the architecture of the cathedral, the town-hall and so on. These demonstrate personal and political intentions (the cultural perspective). These constellations and forces are exemplified by the semiotic analysis of the Hanseatic City of Bremen. In a final part the destruction of a historical quarter is analysed as a negative semiosis, which has strange side effects. One can observe a later renaissance of destroyed sign-structures and conflictual interpretations of more recent urban developments. In general it can be shown that beyond individual sign users a town has its own collective »meaning« space. It reflects the affordances that places, buildings, and streets have for human users (their potential for actions, reactions, and interpretations) and contains intended messages exchanged in different periods between social groups in the city.

Kurt Lewin and the Rise of ‘Cognitive Sciences’ in Germany: Cassirer, Bühler, Reichenbach

If one discusses the rise of cognitive science, one should bear in mind that cognitive science is not a discipline like those separated from the traditional fields of philosophy, the arts or medicine: psychology, linguistics, biology, anthropology, etc., rather it was created by an act of reassembling separated disciplines. The reassembling of separated classes may be done in different ways and have different motives. In fact, since the separation of disciplines (which mainly occurred in the 19th century (psychology was only separated from philosophy at the end of the last century), different initiatives have been taken to form more coherent and larger fields of scientific research.