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Newsletter October 18, Vol. 2, No. 1

		     C S L I  N E W S L E T T E R
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October 18, 1984           Stanford                          Vol. 2, No. 1
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    A weekly publication of The Center for the Study of Language and
   Information, Ventura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
                           ____________ 

         CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *THIS* THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1984

12 noon                 TINLunch
  Ventura Hall	       	``The Semantics of Grammar Formalism Seen as 
  Conference Room         Semiotic Approaches to Joyce's `Eveline',''
                          by Robert Scholes.  Discussion led by Paul Schacht.

2:15 p.m.               CSLI Seminar
  Ventura Trailer       ``Abstract Data Types and the Representational
  Classroom             Theory of Mind,'' by Brian Smith.
                        (Abstract on page 2)

3:30 p.m.	    	Tea
  Ventura Hall		

4:15 p.m.	    	CSLI Colloquium
  Redwood Hall          There won't be a CSLI Colloquium this week.
  Room G-19
                           ____________ 

                SCHEDULE FOR *NEXT* THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1984

12 noon                 TINLunch
  Ventura Hall          ``Linguistics and Psychology,'' by Scott Soames.
  Conference Room       Discussion led by David Israel.
				
2:15 p.m.               CSLI Seminar
  Ventura Trailer       Seminar will be led Joseph Goguen.
  Classroom             Title to be announced.

3:30 p.m.	    	Tea
  Ventura Hall		

4:15 p.m.	    	CSLI Colloquium
  Redwood Hall          ``The Ordering and Scope of Operators
  Room G-19             in the Hungarian Sentence,'' by Katalin Kiss,
                        MIT/Sloan Postdoc.
Page 2                    CSLI Newsletter                   October 18, 1984
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			COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Mark Liberman and Janet Pierrehumbert of AT&T Bell Laboratories will give
a course sponsored by the Linguistics Department and CSLI entitled ``Form
and Meaning of English Intonation.''

        Place: Seminar Room, CSLI
        Dates: Monday, November 5--Saturday, November 17
        Hours:  MWF      16:30-18:00
                TTh      16:30-18:00 & 19:30-21:30
                Sat      10:00-12:30 & 14:00-17:00

An brief, online description of the course may be found on the Turing
BBoard, a hard copy at the Receptionist's Desk in Ventura Hall.
                           ____________ 

                ABSTRACT OF TODAY'S CSLI SEMINAR

There is a striking similarity---though developed largely independently---
between (i) the development, in theoretical computer science, of the theory
of abstract data types and (ii) the push, in AI and the philosophy of mind,
towards a less explicitly representational model of computation (the latter
most recently endorsed, in various ways, by Barwise and Perry, and by
Rosenschein and Pereira).  On the other hand, there is also a striking
DISsimilarity between the two approaches, having to do with what each of
them calls ``semantics.''  In this talk, I will attempt to clarify the
relationship between the two approaches by applying them both to the same
simple example.  In conclusion, I will suggest that what we are headed
towards is a representational, but non-syntactic, model of computation
and/or mind.
                           ____________ 

                ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S TINLUNCH DISCUSSION

Imagine characterizing linguistics as a science whose central object of
study is the class of natural human languages.  Then imagine characterizing
natural (human) languages as those languages that a (normal?) human infant
could learn as her/his first language---that is, without having had to learn
any other language.  Finally, imagine---and this is the easiest part---that
most humans do actually speak and or understand at least one natural human
language and that, so far at least, no things of other kinds---either
natural or artificial---do so.  Last, let's grant that our mastery of and
use of language are cognitive phenomena . So, it sure seems natural to
suppose that linguistics must be related in some way or other to the study
of the cognitive abilities and cognitive processes of humans.  Let human
cognitive psychology BE the study of such abilities and processes.  What
then is the relation between linguistics and psychology.
      Query: is linguistics a part of, a sub-discipline of, human
        cognitive psychology?  Soames's answer: Hell, no.
      Query: Then what in the world is linguistics the study of?
        My answer: Darned if I know.
                                                ---David Israel

Page 3                    CSLI Newsletter                   October 18, 1984
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                     EMOTION'S WEEK AT CSLI

Over the week of November 7--12 there will be a number of presentations at
CSLI devoted to the examination of philosophical and psychological theories
of emotion.  This will begin with the Thursday, November 8, Colloqium given
by Ronald de Sousa, Philosophy Department, University of Toronto.  Other
speakers include Jerome Neu, Philosophy Department, University of Santa
Cruz, and Phoebe Ellsworth, Department of Psychology, Stanford University.
One session will be devoted to a discussion of the question of the relevance
of emotion to computers. All members of CSLI are invited to attend these
sessions.  More details to follow.  ____________

                SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S CSLI SEMINAR

Last week's CSLI Seminar was led by Ed Zalta, who presented an axiomatized
theory of objects and relations, defined situations, facts, and worlds, and
then deduced the basic laws which govern them.  He concluded by showing
how the theory could be used to do the semantics of natural language.  The
discussant was Chris Menzel.

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