The WSU Humanities Center invites faculty, students, staff, and the community to a Brown Bag talk given by Mark Satta (Assistant Professor, Philosphy) on the topic of "Orwell and Philosophy of Language"

Abstract: As a keen observer of language and its significance for human life, George Orwell wrote much that should be of interest to contemporary philosophers of language. In this presentation, I examine what Orwell had to say on several topics including the interrelationship between language, thought, and politics, the operation and purpose of metaphor, challenges to communication posed by features of word meaning, the nature and function of propaganda, and the possibility of making literature mechanically. I also argue that Orwell rejected strong forms of linguistic determinism and instead embraced a moderate and plausible version of linguistic relativity.