Through his innovative study of language, noted Heidegger scholar Lawrence Hatab offers a proto-phenomenological account of the lived world, the "first" world of factical life, where pre-reflective, immediate disclosiveness precedes and makes possible representational models of language. Common distinctions between mind and world, fact and value, cognition and affect miss the meaning-laden dimension of embodied, practical existence, where language and life are a matter of "dwelling in speech." In this second volume, Hatab supplements and fortifies his initial analysis by offering a detailed treatment of child development and language acquisition, which exhibit a proto-phenomenological world in the making. He then takes up an in-depth study of the differences between oral and written language (particularly in the ancient Greek world) and how the history of alphabetic literacy shows why Western philosophy came to emphasize objective, representational models of cognition and language, which conceal and pass over the presentational domain of dwelling in speech. Such a study offers significant new angles on the nature of philosophy and language.

About the Author
Lawrence J. Hatab is Louis I. Jaffe Professor of Philosophy at Old Dominion University. He is the author of Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality (2008), Nietzsche's Life Sentence: Coming to Terms With Eternal Recurrence (2005), Ethics and Finitude: Heideggerian Contributions to Moral Philosophy (2000), A Nietzschean Defense of Democracy: An Experiment in Postmodern Politics (1995) and Myth and Philosophy: A Contest of Truths (1990).

Reviews

Written with elegance and ease, Lawrence J. Hatab's book argues that language is embedded in the lived world. Its thorough description of experiences that are not usually considered by philosophy adds a note of surprise. By the end of the book, the reader has gained valuable insights into child development, language acquisition, orality, and the emergence of literacy. This is phenomenological description at its best. Because it uses indicative and not technical concepts, the book can be read not only by experts in phenomenology but also by all those interested in the wonder of human language.

* Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
This book is a fitting and in many ways surprising completion of the first volume. Hatab's work on language and language acquisition is ground breaking. Influenced by but not subservient to Heidegger, Hatab takes phenomenology in new directions. This is not a book about phenomenology; it is doing phenomenology. -- Drew A. Hyland, Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Trinity College, USA

Philosophers who believe in the primacy of embodiment for how we experience the world have labored to ascertain how to make sense of our condition. To approach this question-Hatab asks how does meaning arise amongst humans who are not originally or only verbal, representational beings? Starting with our everyday manner of experiencing, this book is a compelling study of how his "proto-phenomenology" understands human meaning as naturally arising out of our lived condition in opposition to views that restrict meaning within the mental world.

-- Talia Welsh, Professor of Philosophy, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA

This volume will be valuable as a stand-alone work for those interested in phenomenological methods, early cognitive development, primary language acquisition, and the cultural effects of widespread literacy.

* Review of Metaphysics *

This second volume of Lawrence J. Hatab's Dwelling in Speech demonstrates the power of phenomenology to challenge both mainstream philosophy and the cognitive sciences which employ its metaphysical assumptions. ... Hatab largely avoids Heideggerian terminology to make the work more accessible, developing his own lexicon which calls for some effort but rewards the reader with a wealth of insights into questions of philosophical and scientific import. ... [I]n the two volumes of Dwelling in Speech, Lawrence Hatab has applied Heideggerian conceptions such as world disclosure and dwelling to a wide array of philosophical and empirical questions, thereby demonstrating the power of phenomenology to examine underlying metaphysical assumptions and recommend concrete research directions as a result. In particular, the notion of language as world disclosive is most powerful. We also see the richness of the lived world, which is what originally excited Heidegger about Husserl's work. Hatab helps to bring that vision to fruition with this effort.

* Phenomenological Reviews *

Lawrence J. Hatab's Proto-Phenomenology, Language Acquisition, Orality and Literacy: Dwelling in Speech II aims to provide a ("proto-") phenomenology of language acquisition and becoming-literate at both ontogenetic and cultural-historical scales of analysis. ... Hatab's goal in this work is to add to Heideggerian ontology a much-needed developmental dimension, one that renders explicit how it is that an individual comes to find herself dwelling in a meaningful world. ... Hatab's object is not only the world-building character of language, but also the specific effects of literacy for both children and entire cultures. ... Dwelling in Speech II is part of the Rowman & Littlefield "New Heidegger Research" series. For Heideggerians new to 4E cognition, developmental psychology, and literacy studies, this book could be an effective entry into a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. And those already invested in such projects may find inspiration in Hatab's general orientation and the scope of his project. Employing a phenomenological method while pairing ontogenetic and cultural-historical analyses of human development is a grand task, and we should welcome the attempt.

* Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences *

Proto-Phenomenology, Language Acquisition, Orality, and Literacy is a deeply valuable contribution to a number of fields, including, the philosophy of language, phenomenology, and social epistemology. It offers a fascinating account of two parallel developments - the development from childhood dwelling in speech to adult dwelling in speech and from oral culture to literate culture- that brings together two bodies of research rarely connected by scholars. More importantly, it serves to remind readers of the ways that even the sophisticated thought of highly literate people today remains bound to forms of linguistic disclosure that are rooted in earlier, more ecstatic stages of human life.

-- Carolyn Culbertson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Florida Gulf Coast University



Book Information
ISBN 9781538148068
Author Lawrence J. Hatab
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 485g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 154mm * 24mm