In Meaningful Games, Robin Clark explains in an accessible manner the usefulness of game theory in thinking about a wide range of issues in linguistics. Clark argues that we use grammar strategically to signal our intended meanings: our choices as speaker are conditioned by what choices the hearer will make interpreting what we say. Game theory--according to which the outcome of a decision depends on the choices of others--provides a formal system that allows us to develop theories about the kind of decision making that is crucial to understanding linguistic behavior. Clark argues the only way to understand meaning is to grapple with its social nature--that it is the social that gives content to our mental lives. Game theory gives us a framework for working out these ideas. The resulting theory of use will allow us to account for many aspects of linguistic meaning, and the grammar itself can be simplified. The results are nevertheless precise and subject to empirical testing. Meaningful Games offers an engaging and accessible introduction to game theory and the study of linguistic meaning. No knowledge of mathematics beyond simple algebra is required; formal definitions appear in special boxes outside the main text. The book includes an extended argument in favor of the social basis of meaning; a brief introduction to game theory, with a focus on coordination games and cooperation; discussions of common knowledge and games of partial information; models of games for pronouns and politeness; and the development of a system of social coordination of reference.
Author(s): Robin Clark
Publisher: The MIT Press
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 373
Tags: Математика;Теория игр;
Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 18
I: THE SOCIAL SIDE OF MEANING......Page 20
The Puzzle of Reference......Page 22
Use, Mention, and Truth......Page 23
The Language of Thought......Page 26
Concepts, Mentalese, and the Informational Universe......Page 29
Language and the World......Page 31
Platonic Heaven in a Box......Page 32
Inferences and Mentalese......Page 35
Further Reading......Page 37
Phrase Structure Grammar......Page 40
Grammar and Compositionality......Page 42
Thinking and Computing......Page 44
The Heaven in Your Head......Page 47
Brains in SUVs......Page 49
Symbols and Proofs......Page 50
Into the Chinese Room......Page 55
The Social Nature of Intention......Page 57
The Excesses of Youth......Page 58
Further Reading......Page 60
Choice and Meaning......Page 62
Internal Predicates and External Behavior......Page 63
Public Knowledge......Page 65
The Economics of Meaning......Page 69
Physical Computation and Social Computation......Page 72
The Sociolinguistics of Meaning......Page 74
Further Reading......Page 77
II: GAMES AND TRUTH......Page 80
4- A Primer on Games......Page 82
The Cake Game......Page 88
Sequential Games and Backward Induction......Page 94
The Holmes-Moriarty Game......Page 99
‘‘Ideal Free’’ Ducks and Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria......Page 104
Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria and Language Variation......Page 107
Coordination Games......Page 108
The Prisoner’s Dilemma......Page 112
Cooperation: The Stag Hunt......Page 117
Case Marking Systems......Page 131
Further Reading......Page 141
5- A Game Logic for Natural Language......Page 144
The Tale of Abe´ lard and Eloı¨se......Page 147
Syntax......Page 148
Atomic Sentences......Page 156
Negation......Page 159
Logical Connectives......Page 161
The Aristotelian Square of Opposition......Page 169
Ambiguity......Page 191
Monotonicity......Page 192
Compositionality......Page 193
Limitations......Page 195
Further Reading......Page 196
III: GAMES AND THE WORLD......Page 198
6- Common Knowledge......Page 200
Coordinated Attack......Page 201
Definite Descriptions and the Mutual Knowledge Paradox......Page 202
Common Knowledge and Bounded Rationality......Page 210
Miscommunication......Page 218
Presuppositions and Accommodation......Page 223
Further Reading......Page 231
Games for Finding Words......Page 234
Orderly Communication and Utility......Page 240
Playing the Odds......Page 245
Clues from the Context......Page 248
Back to Descriptions and Common Knowledge......Page 251
Equilibrium Selection and Implicature......Page 253
Down the Garden Path......Page 256
Further Reading......Page 261
Discourse Pronouns......Page 264
Politeness, Power, and Implicature......Page 282
On Game-Theoretic Analysis......Page 298
Further Reading......Page 299
9- The Social Ecology of Meaning......Page 302
Games and Prototypes......Page 304
Metrics, Central Tendencies, and Focal Points......Page 308
Semantic Landscapes and Meaning Niches......Page 320
Semantic Hierarchies and Defaults......Page 328
Homophones and Polysemy......Page 333
Into the Artificial World......Page 340
Further Reading......Page 346
Notes......Page 348
References......Page 352
Index......Page 364
