Postgraduate "Work In Progress" Seminar
Postgraduate Work-In-Progress SeminarA weekly seminar for Philosophy postgraduates to present their in-progress work, followed by a well-spirited trip to the pub. OverviewThe WIP provides a risk-free and supportive space for postgraduates to present their work and receive feedback from other graduates and faculty.
Attendance optional but highly recommended. All postgraduates are welcome to present or attend -- whether MA, MPhil, PhD, Visitors, etc. Useful InfoThe WIP is a unique opportunity for graduates to develop their presenting and writing skills, take risks, test out ideas, and receive constructive feedback from peers.
Presentations need not be watertight or polished pieces at all. You are encouraged to present work at all stages of the writing process. Should you present?Are you a postgraduate? Then yes, you should present. |
NEXT TALKBen Long (PhD) Scepticism Thursday 04/06/2026 5pm - 6:15pm S1.50 ORGANISERS |
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WMA Seminar: The Cultural Evolution of Speech Act Norms
Mitch Green (Connecticut) - The Cultural Evolution of Speech Act Norms
After characterizing the notions of information, signal, and verbal signal, I note that since its inception in the mid-twentieth century, speech act theory has been carried on with little attention to how speech acts might have come about in the evolution of communication. I then explain some of the central ideas of cultural evolutionary theory. In that light I sketch a cultural-evolutionary account of the modern practice of assertion according to which that practice emerges from a series of increasingly adaptive 鈥減roto鈥�-assertoric speech acts. I then offer a similar though more compact reconstruction for the evolution of imperatives. If these reconstructions are plausible, they suggest that assertoric and directive practices are adaptive in the communities in which they occur. They are therefore not arbitrary, contrary to one commitment incurred by conventionalist approaches to speech acts. More…