Meaningful games : exploring language with game theory / Robin Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Robin Lee, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematical linguistics.

Game theory.

Language and logic.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (373 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this work, 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.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

I: THE SOCIAL SIDE OF MEANING

1- Platonic Heaven

The Puzzle of Reference

Use, Mention, and Truth

The Language of Thought

Concepts, Mentalese, and the Informational Universe

Language and the World

Platonic Heaven in a Box

Inferences and Mentalese

Further Reading

2- My Fall from Platonic Heaven

Phrase Structure Grammar

Grammar and Compositionality

Thinking and Computing

The Heaven in Your Head

Brains in SUVs

Symbols and Proofs

Into the Chinese Room

The Social Nature of Intention

The Excesses of Youth

3- Meaning and the Social Contract

Choice and Meaning

Internal Predicates and External Behavior

Public Knowledge

The Economics of Meaning

Physical Computation and Social Computation

The Sociolinguistics of Meaning

II: GAMES AND TRUTH

4- A Primer on Games

The Cake Game

Sequential Games and Backward Induction

The Holmes-Moriarty Game

''Ideal Free'' Ducks and Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria

Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria and Language Variation

Coordination Games

The Prisoner's Dilemma

Cooperation: The Stag Hunt

Case Marking Systems

5- A Game Logic for Natural Language

The Tale of Abe´ lard and Eloı¨se

Syntax

Games and Models

Atomic Sentences

Negation

Logical Connectives

The Aristotelian Square of Opposition

Prospects

Ambiguity

Monotonicity

Compositionality

Limitations

III: GAMES AND THE WORLD

6- Common Knowledge

Coordinated Attack

Definite Descriptions and the Mutual Knowledge Paradox

Common Knowledge and Bounded Rationality

Miscommunication

Presuppositions and Accommodation

7- Lexical Games

Games for Finding Words.

Orderly Communication and Utility

Playing the Odds

Clues from the Context

Back to Descriptions and Common Knowledge

Equilibrium Selection and Implicature

Down the Garden Path

8- Two Examples: Pronouns and Politeness

Discourse Pronouns

Politeness, Power, and Implicature

On Game-Theoretic Analysis

9- The Social Ecology of Meaning

Games and Prototypes

Metrics, Central Tendencies, and Focal Points

Semantic Landscapes and Meaning Niches

Semantic Hierarchies and Defaults

Homophones and Polysemy

Into the Artificial World

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-262-29874-0

OCLC:

763204228