BOOKS: Chomsky, Noam. 1966. Cartesian Linguistics. New York: Harcourt. Chomsky, Noam. 1966 Language and Mind (Chapter 1 on reserve in library). Chomsky, Noam 1986. Knowledge of Language. New York: Plenum. Dougherty, Ray C. 1994. Natural Language Computing: An English Generative Grammar in Prolog. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers. Jowett, Benjamin (translator) 1986. The Republic by Plato. New York: Prometheus Books. 1. 1/23 Tue. Introduction to NeoPlatonism: Chomsky, Descartes, Plato, Peirce, St. Augustine, Pascal, Babbage, Darwin, and more. The focus of this lecture will be to introduce students to the basic ideas to be covered: Neoplatonism, Augustine, Descartes, etc. (a) Dougherty, Voltaire and Linguistics, attached to first day handout. (b) Brent, Joseph. "Melusina Fay Peirce", attached to first day handout. COMPUTERS: Go to 14 Washington Place and, if you have any interest in the computational part of this class, take one of the classes to find out how to use the PC/Macintosh Lab, how to logon to UNIX, and how to use the Internet. If you can, check out these sites since they contain much of the materials you will read: (a) Franklin Museum http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html (b) Franklin Archives http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/books.html (c) The Apocrypha http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/ (d) Wisdom of Solomon http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/WIS.HTML (e) WoS, Chapter 8 http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/WIS8.HTML FILMS/VIDEOS: There are some movies that you might rent and watch to gain some visual appreciation for the ideas and time periods we will discuss. Some I particularly recommend are: Steambath, The Return of Martin Guerre, Louis XIV, The Miracle Worker, Three Faces of Eve, and some more to be mentioned in class. 2. 1/25 Thurs. The Main Topics of this Course. Chomsky and Descartes say the main correlate of "intelligence" is the use and understanding of language. Plato's four virtues (wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage) versus Franklin's ten. The triangle. The absolutely hardest habit to break: Change your speech habits, in particular, to stop 'taking the name of the Lord in vain,' and in general, cursing from anger or fright. The Cartesians and Pascal. (a) Dougherty, Preface and Chapter 1 (b) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, Chapter 1, The Creative Aspects of Language Use, pp. 1-31 (c) Plato, Chapter 1. 3. 1/30 Tues. Using the Internet Browsers (Netscape) to Access the World Wide Web. Introduction to the WWW, the Internet, and "search engines." (a) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/hotsites.html (b) Read the ACF documents about UNIX (c) Dougherty, Introduction and Chapter 1. 4. 2/1 Thurs. The Link Between Humans and God: Male or Female or Both or Neither. The New Testament says a man (Jesus), the Apocrapha says a woman (Wisdom). Metaphor, literal. Translations. Interpretations. John Woolman. Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress. How they cataloged properties of mind and why. (a) Isaiah 53:1 - 23 (b) Apocrypha: Look it up in the Encyclopedia (of Philosophy) (c) Plato, Chapter 2 (d) Esdras: 3:1 - 43 (e) Wisdom of Solomon 1:1 - 9: 18, especially, 8:7-8 (f) Judith 12:1 - 13:16 (g) Ecclesiasticus 1:1 - 2:15 (h) http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/ 5. 2/6 Tues. Natural and Artificial Intelligence: Intelligent Machines. The Swedish Lecture. (a) Dougherty, Chapter 2 (b) Look up Artificial Intelligence in the Encyclopedia (c) Plato, Chapter 3 (d) Chomsky, Knowledge of Language, Chapter 1. (e) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/ling.html 6. 2/8 Thurs. The NYU Computer System, World Wide Web, and PROLOG. (a) Dougherty, Chapter 3. (b) Read Academic Computing Facility Documents (c) Plato Chapter 4, 5 (d) Chomsky, Knowledge of Language, Chapter 2. 7. 2/13 Tues Attempts to Catalog Properties of the Mind: Plato and Franklin. The function of prayer. The content of a prayer. What is the difference between praying and meditating? Would it be an effective prayer if you simply counted from one to ten? Driving shopkkeepers, etc. from the temple. (a) Chomsky, Language and Mind, The Past. (b) St. Matthew, 5:1 - 6: 29, The Sermon on the Mount (c) Epictetus, xxv - xxxvii, pages 126- 129. (d) Plato, Chapter 6, 7 (e) Woolman, Chapter IV, pp. 1-2. His Vision of the Disk. (f) St. Augustine, The Master (g) Ben Franklin, pp. 78-86, on virtues and how to maintain them. 8. 2/15 Thurs. Plato: The Best Model of the Human Mind is a City-State. Four Virtues: wisdom, courage/fortitude, temperance, justice Two metaphors: the captain, sailors, and pilot; and the cave. Plato does not talk of saviors or deliverers, he speaks of pilots and guides. Aurelius speaks of demon and a guardian spirit. (a) Plato, Chapters 8, 9 (b) Plato, The Seventh Letter (c) Aurelius, end of BK III, Start of BK IV, pp. 210-213 HC. 9. 2/20 Tues. St. Augustine: How to Strengthen and Discipline the Will. Why is it very difficult to break a "bad habit"? Why are some habits labeled "good" and others "bad"? What principles underly the ranking? What is virtue? What is vice? What is the function of a prayer? What is the role of language in a prayer? Instead of using our language (perhaps voice) why not dance a prayer? You will get instructions on how to use the triangle for exercises to focus on your will and aid in its discipline. (a) Descartes, Rene. Rules for Direction of the Mind. (b) St Augustine: The Confessions (passages on his conversion) (c) St. Paul, Romans 6:12 - 8:39, espcially 6:12-23; 7:14-25. (d) Franklin: (passage on breaking bad habits) (e) St. Augustine: On Christian Doctrine 10. 2/22 Thurs Monsters, Vulgar Creatures, and Robots Ran Amuck in 1500. Monsters of the 1500-1800 period, such as Gargantua and Frankenstein, would not take a backseat to Godzilla and King Kong when it comes to terrorizing towns and inflicing woe. Mahem was the name of the game for monsters a few hundred years ago. Pictures and so on of some of the less terrible ones. (a) Rene Descartes, On the Passions. (b) Montaigne (c) Shelley, Frankenstein (d) Darwin, The Evolution of Emotion in Man and Animals 11. 2/22 Thurs A Set of Cartesian/Augustinian/Franklin Tools. The dimensions of human existence. (a) READINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED. (b) The Harvard Classics, Voltaire, Franklin (c) Aurelius 12. 2/29 Thurs. Robots in 1500, 1600, 1700, and 1800 culminating in Frankenstein and Chess Players. We will focus on automata and simulata and especially von Kempelen. (a) Chomsky, Language and Mind, The Past (in library) (a) Edgar Allan Poe, von Kempelen's Chess Player (c) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (d) Shannon, Chess Playing Programs, Scientific American reprint 13. 3/5 Tues. MIDTERM EXAM This exam is an OPEN BOOK EXAM. You may bring any written materials you wish to the exam. The exam will have four questions. That is, you must answer any four questions from the list of questions (about 20). For the exam you are expected to have read and mastered: (a) Plato, The Republic, the whole book cover to cover. (b) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, Intro and Chapter 1. (c) Chomsky, Knowledge of Language, Chapters 1-2. (d) Dougherty, Natural Language Computing, i-xliv, Chapters 1, 2, and 3. 14. 3/7 Thurs. Return Exams and Discuss Each Problem. 3/11 - 3/ 16 Spring Recess 15. 3/19 Tues Chomsky, Cybernetics, Grammar, Language, and Mind. Define sentence, language, grammar, cybernetic machine. How does Chomsky define the 'formal properties of language'? Abstraction and Idealization. Geometry and Logic. Example: Servo Motor and Magnets. (a) Dougherty, Chapters 4 and 7. (b) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/ling.html 16. 3/21 Thurs Chomsky's on Language Acquiistion and Biological Organs. Language acquisition devices: Observational, descriptive, and explanatory adequacy. Saliend data. Only positive evidence. Cascade model. Role of redundancy. Example: coins. (a) Dougherty, Chapters 4 and 7. 17. 3/26 Tues Chomsky's " Modern" Computer/Communication Theory of Mind. Language is a switch. A combination lock. What are the properties of an I-language and a grammar? Learning configures the switch. Principles and parameter.s Universal Grammar, UG0. A sentence is a path through the switch. (a) Dougherty, Chapter 8. (b) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, Chapter 3, Description and Explanation 18. 3/28 Thurs A Grammar Defines 'possible paths" through a Switch. A sentence is a path through the switch or an address. A parser is the device that decides if the sentence defines a path through the switch, i.e., if it is a combination that opens the lock. Is a sentence an address, a path, or a set of possible paths? Example: airplane. (a) Dougherty, Chapter 8. (b) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, Chapter 4, Acquisition and Use of Language 19. 4/2 Tues. Who were the Cartesians? Port Royal, Pascal, and the Arnauld Family. Wisdom in Rules for Direction of the Mind, Pascal was not practical, The Arnauld Family. Port Royal Logic and Grammar. Language:Grammar::Body:Geometry. Descartes on imagination, memory, love, etc. Basic emotions. Darwin, Lorenz. Language and creativity indicate mind. (a) Descartes, Rules for Direction of the Mind (b) Descartes, On the Passions (c) Woolman (d) Keller (e) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, 1 (The Creative Aspects of Language Use) and 2 (Deep and Surface Structure). Any student who wishes to write a term paper, work on a computer project, or produce an HTML hyptertext document for a Final Project MUST HAVE THEIR PROJECT APPROVED BY THIS DATE. 20. 4/4 Thurs. (First Day of Passover) Cassanova's Parrot. Cassanova trained a parrot to slander a member of the Nobility. (a) Cassanove, The Story of My Life (b) Dougherty, Voltairian Linguistics (c) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, Description and Explanation. 21. 4/9 Tues. Mind, Body, and the Pinneal Gland. The what and where? (a) Pennfield (b) Descartes, On the Passions (c) Darwin, The Evolution of Emotions in Man and Animals (d) Lorenz, Three dimensional space (e) Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, 4, The Acquisition and Use of Language (f) Birds versus chimpanzees: the octopus. 22. 4/11 Thurs C.S. Peirce: Pragmatism and Realism. If you get out of Plato's cave, what do you see? What happens when you go back in? In the cave is nominalism; outside is realism. Is matter just a special domain of thought? What is pragmatism? Abduction, Induction, Deduction? (a) Peirce, The Wasp in the Bottle (in library) (b) Peirce: How to Make our Ideas Clear (c) http://www.nothing.com/peirce (d) http://www.arts.cuhk.hk/Philo.html 23. 4/16 Tues. How Can We Discipline the Human Will to Will What We Will? Basically you cannot. Need a perspective on problem. Need conceptual tools: vices, virtues, structure of reason, etc. Gymansium for body, reason, will. Necker cube, hold it steady. (a) Peirce, Arguments for God, (in library) (b) St. Paul, Romans, 6:12 - 7:39; especially 6:12 - 23; 7:14 - 25 24. 4/18 Thurs. Ben Franklin and the Harvard Classic Series of Books. In the Harvard Classics (5.5 feet of books), volumes I and II are to format your brain. Volumes III on aim to (a) sharpen your reason [two knives], spirit, and body; (b) stimulate, furnish, and aim your imagination; and (c) stock the memory with plums from civilized society. (a) Franklin, Autobiography (b) Penn, Meditations (c) C.S. Peirce on Pragmatism, Abduction, and Learning. 25. 4/23 Tues. In the Catalog of Human Mental Capacities, Where are will and spirit? Wh cares? Why bother? Different people have different answers. Getting in to a room with many doors (or out of a cave). The dimensions of human existence. Pythagoras and daily self- examination. If a person is very damaged in their body, a strong will might help them recover. But if their will is shattered, what can help them restore their will? Enter Aurelius' idea of spirit and demon. (a) Plato, Seventh Letter (b) READINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED 26. 4/25 Thurs Why You Can Never Be Alone Even If You Are All Alone. Split personalities:For Plato your mind is like a city with all sorts of groups and individuals competing. Today this might point to a multiple personality disorder. What is a guardian angel? Marcus Aurelius and the demon. What is a guide, pilot, savior, deliverer? (a) Aurelius, (b) Chomsky, (c) Chomsky, (d) READINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED 27. 4/30 Tues. Metaphors, Models, an Theories of Mental Capacities. City, Clock (machine), Steam Engine, Lamp, Mirror, and Computer. Which is right? Which is true? Which is most useful? Can one view be more useful than another for some purposes? (a) READINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED 28. 5/2 Thurs Review for Final Exam. The final exam will cover all of the material in the course from class 1 to class 28. There will be five questions. One question everyone must answer. Then you may answer any four questions from a selection of about twenty. 5/8 5/15 Spring term final exams begin You may (a) take the final exam, (b) write a term paper, (c) write a computer program and write the documentation indicating why you wrote it and how it works, (d) write a hypertext project using HTML code. The final exam will be open book. You may bring any written materials you wish to the final exam. It would be possible to do extremely well on the final if you know the material in the following books: (a) Plato, Republic: The Whole Book. (b) Chomsky, Language and Mind, Chapter 1, The Past. (c) Chomsky, Knowledge of Language, Chapters 1 and 2. (d) Chomsky, Cartesian Lingustics, The Whole Book. (e) Dougherty, Natural Language Computing, The Whole Book. Possible Term Projects: (1) Get old robot/automata/etc. pictures and scan them into jpeg format for WWW. (2) Get sites for relevant information to subject matter of this course. links. (3) Put this outline on the WWW with links (4) Produce an annotated listing of movies that help clafiry this course's points. Apocrypha The Apocrypha http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/ Wisdom of Solomon http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/WIS.HTML WoS,Chapter 8 http://www.iadfw.net/webchap/apoc/WIS8.HTML Chomsky The Chomsky Archive http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu:/usr/tp0x/chomsky.html The Chomsky Web Page http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~iandc/Authors/chomskynoam.html The Chomsky Project gopher://gopher.oise.on.ca:70/11/resources/special/chomsky Philosophy WOrks Online http://www.arts.cuhk.hk/Philo.html#aug Chomsky's Home Page at MIT http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/org/l/linguistics/www/chomsky.home.html Franklin Franklin Museum http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html Franklin Archives http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/books.html Books List of books available over internet http://www.thegroup.net/booktitl.htm Plato Plato's Republic http://wiretap.spies.com/ftp.items/Library/Classic/republic.txt Augustine Saint Augustine, Confessions: http://ccel.wheaton.edu/augustine/confessions/confessions.html Saint Augustine, On Christian Doctrine: http://ccel.wheaton.edu/augustine/doctrine/doctrine.txt Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce http://www.nothing.com/peirce/ Gender Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/gender.html DIOTIMA: Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World. http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/biblio.html Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10010/02/161/1 Poe Edgar Allan Poe Page http://138.232.92.2/sg/poe/poe.html Poe On the Discovery made by von Kempelen gopher://UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU:70/00/LIBRARY/STACKS/BOOKS/POE/VON_KEMP Aurelius Aurelius Homepage http://www.tamu.edu:8000/~khall/antoninus.html The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus written 167 A.D. Translated by George Long http://the-tech.mit.edu/Classics/Antoninus/meditations.sum.html Spirituality 18th Century Texts: Journal of John Woolman, and more http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/c18etext.html Emanuel Swedenborg A Spiritual Guidebook by Emanuel Swedenborg http://www.netaxs.com/~mvd/Swedenborg/HCSG/HCSG.html Chapter 14, Inner Struggles http://www.netaxs.com/~mvd/Swedenborg/HCSG/chap_14.html Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan ftp://wiretap.spies.com/Library/Classic/pilgrim.txt