tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post4877648720587870708..comments2023-09-22T06:36:49.235-04:00Comments on Yet Another Philosopher's Blog?!?: The "Languaged" Conference CampaignGabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-57070004586430335212014-10-24T06:55:07.650-04:002014-10-24T06:55:07.650-04:00Here is the comment I've already written on th...Here is the comment I've already written on the Feminist Philosophers blog, where I first read about the Campaign. Sorry for the lenghty comment - it shows how far away from the concise English style I am.<br /><br />I’m a non-native English speaking, female philosophy grad student too, though not studying in a English speaking country.<br />I appreciate that the issue of native language has been raised, but, as regards the campaign, I’m unsure whether it’s a useful move or not. One important step forward would be to have more awareness and discussion of the <br />issue among the philosophical community. This alone may well have an impact on the way a non-native speaker is treated, understood and, if necessary, supported in their effort to master the common language through which their theories can be discussed out of their native country. Knowing that your interlocutor is dealing with an extra difficulty can be a precious background awareness at conferences, during common projects, in professional interactions more generally.<br /><br />On the other hand, publication of written papers may need to be addressed differently. I personally think that writing in English and struggling to achieve proficiency at least in scientific English has been good for me. It actually helped me clarify my theses and aim at more concise and well-structured arguments. I dare say language doesn’t come alone: there is a style associated with English – arguably, a style that is useful if not necessary to incorporate in your papers if you want them to get published in good journals. Some may find it even more difficult to write in English beacuse the academic style associated with their native language is quite different. Now, when I say that my experience with gradually changing my writing style has been positive, I am not suggesting that we should all be happy to conform to what I perceive to be an “English style”, over and above writing in comprehensible English. I understand not everyone will recognise themselves in this style. Also, I can be wrong in believing there is a general style associated with academic or philosophical English: this has merely been my experience in my area.<br /><br />A point we may bear in mind in this discussion about written non-native language. Let’s not forget that even if you write correctly, there will probably be expressions or ways of formulating certain phrases that will be recognised by native speakers as unusual or bizarre. By experience, there will also be more or less confident ways of stating one’s thesis, more or less sharp ways of conveying your central point, more or less brillant and more or less boring writing syles. While we cannot accept incomprehensible and grammatically incorrect papers, we may avoid easy dismissal and be more patient and charitable with clearly non-native English written styles.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-90159608164279341162014-10-23T14:56:42.377-04:002014-10-23T14:56:42.377-04:00(needless to say, nothing hangs on that theorem he...(needless to say, nothing hangs on that theorem here)Gabriele Contessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-1077785100739514802014-10-23T14:56:04.054-04:002014-10-23T14:56:04.054-04:00Thanks, Anon @ 2:52 PM!
Thanks, Anon @ 2:52 PM!<br />Gabriele Contessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-78044151223734810532014-10-23T14:52:18.371-04:002014-10-23T14:52:18.371-04:00This article is pseudo-science.
http://www.ams.or...This article is pseudo-science.<br /><br />http://www.ams.org/notices/201409/rnoti-p1024.pdfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-85998825416263263872014-10-21T11:41:40.475-04:002014-10-21T11:41:40.475-04:00Thanks, Enzo. That's a really interesting piec...Thanks, Enzo. That's a really interesting piece!Gabriele Contessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214738437824336150.post-21600749787347418382014-10-21T11:13:37.045-04:002014-10-21T11:13:37.045-04:00A related issue which should matter in light of an...A related issue which should matter in light of analytic philosophy's problem-solving orientation: "Diversity trumps ability", as the slogan goes. "When selecting a problem-solving team from a diverse population of intelligent agents, a team of randomly selected agents outperforms a team comprised of the best-performing agents." There's a (non-uncontroversial) formal proof for that. More details here: http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/10/diversity-trumps-ability.html enzo rossihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06743937670761144450noreply@blogger.com