PATRICIA HANNA portrait
  • Professor Emeritus, Linguistics
  • Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
801-585-1209

Research Statement

My current research is focused on philosophy of language and linguistics, with special attention to the theoretical foundations of linguistic research as laid out by Noam Chomsky.  I just finished a paper arguing that the bio-linguistic approach to semantics as specified by in Chomskyan linguistics cannot address the central questions of meaning: viz., assertoric content and reference.  If correct, this entails that the concept of language as a social phenomenon must be given a central place into language as the object of linguistic inquiry.

Research Keywords

  • Wittgenstein
  • Theoretical Linguistics
  • Semantics
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Philosophy of Language
  • Metaphysics

Presentations

  • Neither love nor money: What could save the environment? Conference Paper, Presented, 05/22/2017.
  • "Is there room for semantics in bio-linguistics?", 6th Annual International Philosophy Conference. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/30/2011.
  • "Why there is 'no such thing as language': Chomsky's Mistake", 5th International Conference on Philosophy in Athens. Conference Paper, presented, 06/03/2009. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/2010.
  • "How to avoid relativism: what forms the bedrock on which we turn our spades?", 4th International Conference on Philosophy in Athens. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/03/2009.
  • "Realism without Empiricism", XXII World Congress of Philosophy, Seoul Korea, 2008. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/2008.

Geographical Regions of Interest

  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
    Collaborative research projects; member of British Wittgensteinian Society.
  • Greece
    President, Philosophy Division, ATINER, Athens Greece; edit reviewed proceedings for annual philosophy conference.

Publications

  • The Unity of Linguistic Meaning The Philosophical Quarterly first published online December 10, 2014 doi:10.1093/pq/pqu091 . Published, 12/10/2014.
  • "Why there is 'No such Thing as Language': Chomsky's Category Mistake", An Anthology of Philosophical Studies" vol. V, ATINER, 2011. Published, 05/2011.
  • "The Limits of Relativism in Late Wittgenstein", co-author, B. Harrison, The Blackwell Companion to Relativism. Published, 01/2011.
  • ``How to avoid relativism'', An Anthology of Philosophical Papers, vol 4, Athens: ATINER. Published, 05/2010.
  • "Beyond the 'Delivery Problem': Why there is 'no such thing as a language' ", Philosophia, vol 38.2. Published, 2010.
  • "Review of 'Yo!' and 'Lo!'", Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews,. Published, 07/03/2009.
  • "The Chomskyan Revolution: A Category Mistake?", An Anthology of Philosophical Studies, vol. III. Published, 05/2009.
  • "Chomsky's Mentalism: How Private is Private?", An Anthology of Philosophical Studies, vol II. Published, 05/2008.