Language

Hermeneutics, the study of interpretation theory, may be limited to literary texts or widened to embrace verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. Biblical hermeneutics is sometimes referred to as a science because it involves using a prescribed set of rules for the interpretation of biblical texts. However, hermeneutics is also an art, since understanding the meaning of the […]

In the minds of many today there is nothing particularly unique about humans. We are just animals. Christine Kenneally appeals to hard scientific fact as demonstrating that our supposedly unique qualities are only more sophisticated versions of traits found in the animal world. She describes the human capacity for language as “the last stronghold of human […]

I enjoyed Tony Payne’s identification of an instance of what he calls the “Gus the Greek Fallacy” (= the etymological fallacy). In a movie which is great for illustrating cross-cultural issues - My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Gus Portokalos’ daughter, Toula, meets resistance from her parents when she wants to marry Ian Miller. Gus is passionately Greek. Indeed, […]

In Column 8 of this weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald there is the amusing story of a Japanese student who, after studying in a Year 11 high school class in Townsville, returned to Japan. He had fallen big time for one of the girls in that class and so he sent her a letter from Japan with […]