A Pictorial Representation Theory of Knowledge A Pictorial Representation What do I know? Areas of Knowledge Natural Sciences Mathematics How do I know? Ways of Knowing Human Sciences Reason Emotion Knower Perception Language Ethics History The Arts

Language and Value Aim To appreciate the distinction between language as a neutral, transparent tool for communication and language as a value laden system of persuasion and implication.

“In the beginning was the Word” The Power of language. “In the beginning was the Word” The first line of St. John's Gospel. What does it imply about Language?

The Tower of Babel According to the story, people of early Babylon, or of all the earth, all spoke one language. They prided themselves on their intelligence and set out to build a tower to reach the heavens. God was displeased by the vanity of their ambitions so punished them by giving them different languages, causing them to abandon their work on the tower and scatter.

The Tower of Babel What does the image and the story suggest about the benefits of everyone speaking the same langauge? What are the drawbacks?

Some Questions What is the difference between a devout believer and a fanatic? Which of the two descriptions would you apply to the IRA or Al Qaeda? When the African National Congress was fighting a guerilla war in South Africa against the apartheid regime were they freedom fighters or terrorists?

DENOTATION and CONNOTATION

Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition.” One of the denotative meanings of snake is "any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles having a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most tropical and temperate regions Connotation refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

The connotations of individual words are crucial when analysing Literature – the connotations of words are crucial in developing and implying meaning.

Connotations Re arrange the terms referring to a ‘young person’ to reflect a spectrum of most favourable through neutral to least favourable developing human, youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, dependent, brat, urchin, juvenile, minor, tyke, pre-pubescent, immature person

Tasks What is the denotation of the word “stud”? What is the connotation of the word? What is the denotation of the word “slut”?

Consider the Following: I am firm; you are stubborn; he is a pig headed fool. I am sparkling and witty; you are talking a lot; he is jabbering on. I daydream; you are an escapist; he is totally delusional. Conjugate the following in the same way: I am ambitious … I have a sense of humour… I love my country ….

Suggestions for Journal Entries Can you think of of time when the connotations of a word created unnecessary confusion or even insult? Is History always written by the Victors? Is History often written from a Eurocentric view Can we have an Objective (unbiased) view of History?