Analogy. The core of our thinking (book review)

Analogy, the core of our thinking (book review)Analogy. So hot the new book by Douglas Hofstadter, which you no doubt know of Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979). ' Analogy ' he wrote together with the French psychologist Emmanuel Sander. Or better, they wrote their own version of the book: Hofstadter in English and Sander in French. Now there is also a Dutch version by translator Jan Pieter van der Sterre.

Luk Vanrespaille las Dutch version: 800 pages about the analogy, according to the authors, the fuel and the engine of our thinking. The food and the fire of our thinking. The basis. The core of our thinking so.

 Luk Vanrespaille: ' I'd think this wetenschapspopulariserend masterpiece about our mechanisms and how language that facilitates required reading dare call. '

A comprehensive review and a paraphrase by chapter.

 

 

Thinking about thinking, and writing about language. That by definition that meta-aspect where philosophers typically like to keep doing. Apparently also believe knowledge scientist Douglas Hofstadter and psychologist Emmanuel Sander that an unusually engaging activity. Because in their book ' Analogy ' varicose thinking and writing fun of each of the more than 800 pages. So they came up with the coolest images and ... they gathered an immense wealth of analogies and examples to make their goals as well. As a reader feel that the writing process must have been intellectually challenging and satisfying. This book is also special because it simultaneously in French and English has been produced and published. Exactly how those duplicated text originated, the authors in the afterword for yourself. For the

Dutch language area adds Jan Pieter van der Sterre there now no mere translation but a nice analog version to it. He bases this on the English for once, then again on the French original. No doubt he has a lot of have to rewrite and is he have to look to new examples that work in our language and our culture. He has done exemplary. Maybe the Publisher had even a Flemish version might want to consider, because how meritorious van der Sterres translation work may be called, every now and then he leaves an obvious solution untapped, as with the word ' pubic ' (pezzo della vergogna) chunk, though properly in Van Dale is, but apparently not to the northern Netherlands "categories" of the translator belongs.

But what is this book about? And is this a language book?
Analogy has the subtitle ' the core of our thinking ". The Dutch title is borrowed from the French: L'Analogie, coeur de la pensée. The book is about thinking but of course also about language. Without language concepts we can not formulate thoughts. And that we have, we owe entirely linguistic concepts to the existence of analogies. So much for the summary of this book in two sentences.
It is also said that there is a one-to-one relationship between concepts and "categories"? Not at all. Even related languages share the conceptual space sometimes very different in. Thus, the Spanish another word (lexical label) for the category ' playing a game ' than for the category ' play on a musical instrument '. The relevance of this book for translators is obvious.


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Author: Luk Vanrespaille

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Source language: Nederlands (nl)


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