Week 1
What do we mean by “Computation”
- Computational linguistics - solving linguistic problems using computation
- NLP - engineering problems that require analyzing natural language texts
What do we mean by philosophy?
- We don’t mean some established corpus of knowledge
- More to critically investigate NLP literature
- What is language for each thinker
- What are the problems (questions and answers) that we want to solve
- Two attitudes:
- Analytical - dive deeper, increase clarity
- Critical - reveal the fundamental problems
Course oraganization
- Presentation in pairs
- Term paper 5-10 pages
On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense - Friedrich Nietzsche
Original Text
Opening Fable and Human Arrogance
- Begins with a fable about humans inventing cognition
- Positions human intelligence as a brief, potentially meaningless moment in cosmic time
- Critiques human arrogance in thinking their intelligence is central to existence
- Compares humans to midges, both believing they are the center of the world
The Origin of the Intellect
- Presents intellect as merely a survival mechanism
- Argues that weak humans developed intelligence for self-preservation
- Claims the intellect’s primary function is deception and dissimulation
- Describes how humans use deception, flattery, and masks to survive
The Social Origins of Truth
- Explains how society necessitated the creation of truth conventions
- Describes the “peace treaty” that established linguistic conventions
- Shows how the concept of lying emerged only after social agreements about truth
- Argues that humans care about truth only for its practical consequences
Language as Metaphor
- Presents language as a series of metaphorical translations:
- First translation: nerve stimulus to image
- Second translation: image to sound
- Argues words never capture the “thing-in-itself”
- Shows how language arbitrarily groups non-identical experiences
- Presents language as a series of metaphorical translations:
Concept Formation
- Explains how concepts form by ignoring individual differences
- Uses the example of “leaf” to show how concepts oversimplify reality
- Demonstrates how abstractions erase unique characteristics
- Shows how humans forget that concepts are metaphors
The Nature of Truth
- Defines truth as “a mobile army of metaphors, metonymies, anthropomorphisms”
- Explains how metaphors become “worn out” through repeated use
- Shows how forgotten metaphors become accepted as literal truth
- Describes how conventional truths become “binding” through long use
Science and Conceptual Frameworks
- Compares scientific work to bees building honeycombs
- Shows how science builds on language’s conceptual foundation
- Describes science as creating an ever-expanding framework
- Explains how researchers seek protection in scientific frameworks
The Creative Power of Metaphor
- Shows how the metaphorical drive continues in art and myth
- Describes how artistic creation bypasses rigid conceptual frameworks
- Explains how dreams and myths offer alternative ways of understanding
- Shows how art allows the intellect to play with concepts
Two Types of Human Understanding
- Contrasts rational and intuitive approaches to life:
- Rational person: Uses concepts for protection, achieves security but little joy
- Intuitive person: Embraces metaphor, experiences both greater suffering and happiness
- Compares their different responses to misfortune
- Concludes with the image of the stoic walking away from the storm
- Contrasts rational and intuitive approaches to life:
Epistemological Implications
- Questions the possibility of objective knowledge
- Suggests all human understanding is fundamentally anthropomorphic
- Challenges the idea that science discovers absolute truth
- Proposes that our understanding is always shaped by human perspectives