The Research Seminar Series in Philosophy invites you to a seminar with Ethan Nowak, "Invocation, metaphor, and linguistic agency".
Abstract: In this paper, I will call attention to a linguistic phenomenon I call 'invocation', which I take to be in some ways similar to and in some ways different from metaphor. After providing some illustrative examples, I'll sketch a philosophical treatment of invocation that draws on Elisabeth Camp's notion of perspective as well as on the notion of mutual knowledge of linguistic metadata that I have relied on in my own work on linguistic variation. I'll claim that invocations are a totally pervasive feature of our speech, and explore some of the philosophically interesting consequences, in particular where the nature of linguistic agency is concerened.
All interested are welcome to participate in this seminar.
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