Philosophy Talk "What are Words Worth?"

How do words shape our minds? Do the French suffer because they have no word for berry or cozy? Do we suffer because we have no word for schadenfreude? Why do we adopt new words, or give old words new meaning? Can we eliminate a concept by renaming it, or eliminating the word for it? Ken and John welcome back Geoff Nunberg, author of "The Years of Talking Dangerously," for a program recorded in front of a live audience at the Marsh theatre in San Francisco.

Video produced by The Human Experience - inside the humanities at Stanford University.
http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• philosophy
• Philosophy Talk
• linguistics
• language
• Stanford University
• Ken Taylor
• John Perry
• KALW
• The Marsh Theater
• Geoff Nunberg

[jstreet2]

You guys get paid for using words better than the rest of us and that is why you tell us that we "haven't said anything" when in fact, we just did.

It's also why you are axious to know if using words well or differently adds anything to life: Hegel, Heidegger, Joyce ....

H two O would mean nothing to Aristotle unless he understood the laws of chemistry and knew how to play the chemistry game.

However, Muddy Waters can be inspiring.

[jstreet2]

Words are used in contexts or "language games"as the witty Viennese stone taught us.

Home run means a different thing to ardent fans, home run hitters and girlfriends.

Just as girlfriend means different things to men and women (usually.)