11 November: fyi -- philosophy of language, Norway
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Position as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (SKO/post code 1352) available at
the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature (CSMN) based at the Department
of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo.
CSMN is looking for a candidate to work within the Communication and
Context component of the linguistic agency group. The focus of this part of
CSMN is to understand the ways in which the context of an utterance
influences the interpretation and communication of that utterance. The
successful candidate will have done work in philosophy of language or
linguistics that bears on these issues, broadly construed.
For more information about CSMN, see the URL above. Additionally, see the
homepage of the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and
Ideas at http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/english/.
The general aim of the linguistic agency group is to explore ways in which
an understanding of language as agency - a manifestation of norms -
constrains and is constrained by an understanding of linguistic behaviour
in natural- and social-scientific terms.
The linguistic agency group is focusing on the following issues:
1. Metarepresentation: The human capacity for meta-representation
(thinking about thoughts and symbols), which is crucial for communication
as well as the emergence of social norms and conventions. (coordinated by
Robyn Carston, Deirdre Wilson, and Herman Cappelen)
2. Communication and Context: The ways in which the context of an
utterance influences the interpretation and communication of that
utterance. (coordinated by Herman Cappelen and Ernest Lepore)
3. Universal Grammar in First Language Acquisition: Universal grammar in
first language acquisition and the role of universal grammar (a set of
rules governing the set of learnable (human) languages) in first language
acquisition. (coordinated by Jan Terje Faarlund and Herman Cappelen)
CSMN is one of eight new Centres of Excellence in the Norwegian Research
Council's CoE-program. Activities started officially on June 1st, 2007. Its
principal goal is to understand the characteristic features of human minds
and their place in nature. This understanding is to be gained though a
comprehensive study of central mental capacities as expressed in (1)
rational agency, (2) linguistic agency and (3) moral agency. CSMN's
research topics lie at the interface of philosophy and the empirical
sciences; and in addition to purely philosophical research, it will conduct
interdisciplinary research involving such subjects as linguistics,
cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, political science, economics and
sociology. Intending applicants should visit:
http://www.csmn.uio.no/research/ for further information about CSMN's
research goals.
The candidates will be expected to have their residence and work place in
Oslo, to participate in the various workshops and conferences organized by
CSMN, and to be active members of the CSMN team in Oslo.
Requirements:
The candidates are required to have a PhD in philosophy or linguistics.
The candidates' work must be closely related to the central topic of
normativity.
The application should include: A letter of application explaining the
interest in joining CSMN, a project description (no more than 2500 words),
CV (including list of publications),and a writing sample (total word limit:
10 000). Two letters of reference should be sent separately to
stillinger@hf.uio.no within the closing day for applications.
The final candidates will be called to an interview at the University of Oslo.
Application Deadline: 01-Dec-2009
Email Address for Applications: stillinger@hf.uio.no
Contact Information:
Adm. leader Jan Halvor Undlien
Email: j.h.undlien@ifikk.uio.no
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