Time, Being and Becoming: Cognitive Models of Innovation and Creation in English

138 Pages·2015·1.299 MB·English

by  Maciej Litwin

6 I n t e r f a c e s
Cognitive linguistics provides tools to discuss identity as a process.
Identity depends on the underlying conceptualisation of the present,
Bydgoszcz Studies in Language,
while innovation and creation are borderline phenomena in epistemol-
ogy. The two may be seen as generalised accounts of causation as a Mind and Translation
process: open-ended and closed, where time is conceptualised as real
or figurative. Aristotle’s epistemology builds on the conceptualisation of Edited by Anna Bączkowska
a subject manipulating objects in the visual field. Saint Augustine and
Plotinus conceive of time and identity as real and contingent or figurative
and necessary. William of Ockham builds on a simple conceptualisation
of a time-point matrix as opposed to a duration matrix. British National
Corpus findings relate to and comment on these expert philosophical
conversations through the medium of cognitive models of ‘innovation’
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and ‘creation’, instruments of thought and reason in English. s
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Maciej Litwin
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Maciej Litwin is an assistant professor of English (linguistics/translation n ·
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studies) at the University of Wrocław. He previously worked as an execu-
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tive for the City of Wrocław, Poland, where he developed key ingredients Li
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of the municipal innovation portfolio (2006-2014). ci
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www.peterlang.com ISBN 978-3-631-65868-0
6 I n t e r f a c e s
Cognitive linguistics provides tools to discuss identity as a process.
Identity depends on the underlying conceptualisation of the present,
Bydgoszcz Studies in Language,
while innovation and creation are borderline phenomena in epistemol-
ogy. The two may be seen as generalised accounts of causation as a Mind and Translation
process: open-ended and closed, where time is conceptualised as real
or figurative. Aristotle’s epistemology builds on the conceptualisation of Edited by Anna Bączkowska
a subject manipulating objects in the visual field. Saint Augustine and
Plotinus conceive of time and identity as real and contingent or figurative
and necessary. William of Ockham builds on a simple conceptualisation
of a time-point matrix as opposed to a duration matrix. British National
Corpus findings relate to and comment on these expert philosophical
conversations through the medium of cognitive models of ‘innovation’
h
and ‘creation’, instruments of thought and reason in English. s
gli
n
E
n
n i
o
ti
a
e
r
C
d
n
a
n
Maciej Litwin
o
ti
a
v
o
n Time, Being and
n
f I
o
s
el Becoming: Cognitive
d
o
M
e Models of Innovation
v
ti
ni
g
o and Creation in English
C
Maciej Litwin is an assistant professor of English (linguistics/translation n ·
wi
studies) at the University of Wrocław. He previously worked as an execu-
t
tive for the City of Wrocław, Poland, where he developed key ingredients Li
ej
of the municipal innovation portfolio (2006-2014). ci
a
M
www.peterlang.com
Time, Being and Becoming:
Cognitive Models of Innovation and Creation in English
Interfaces

Bydgoszcz Studies in Language,
Mind and Translation
Edited by Anna Bączkowska

Advisory Board
Jorge Díaz Cintas (University College London, England)
Marlene Johansson Falck (Umeå University, Sweden)
Dániel Kádár (University of Huddersfield, England)
Stanisław Puppel (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland)
Janusz Trempała (Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland)

Vol. 6
Maciej Litwin

Time, Being and Becoming:
Cognitive Models of
Innovation and Creation
in English
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the
Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is
available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Litwin, Maciej, 1979-
Time, being and becoming : cognitive models of innovation and creation in
English / Maciej Litwin.
pages cm. — (Interfaces ; Vol. 6)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-3-631-65868-0 — ISBN 978-3-653-05200-8 1. Space and time in
language. 2. Cognitive grammar. 3. English language—Origins. 4. Psycholin-
guistics. I. Title.
P120.S53L58 2015
420.1—dc23
2015017898

This publishing project has been generously funded
by the Faculty of Letters, University of Wrocław.

ISSN 2195-3368
ISBN 978-3-631-65868-0 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-05200-8 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-05200-8
© Peter Lang GmbH
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Frankfurt am Main 2015
All rights reserved.
Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH.

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All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
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prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
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electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
www.peterlang.com
Table of contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................9
Preface ........................................................................................................................11
Summary and Overview .....................................................................................15
i. Argument summary.........................................................................................15
ii. Argument overview ........................................................................................16
Part A. Theoretical Prerequisites
Chapter 1. Formal solutions of identity:
the substantive identity.................................................................21
1.1 Chapter overview .............................................................................................21
1.2 Linguistics in the age of science .....................................................................21
1.3 Formal identity: objects of mathematics ......................................................23
1.4 Network identity: objects of human conceptualisation ..............................24
1.5 Identity as a human-scale concept .................................................................27
1.6 Chapter summary ............................................................................................29
Chapter 2. Non-formal solutions of
identity: identity as process .........................................................31
2.1 Chapter overview .............................................................................................31
2.2 The nominalist tradition: contingent existence ............................................31
2.3 Ontological contingency as a feature
of counterfactual thought ................................................................................34
2.4 Plato’s idea: entity or process? .........................................................................36
2.5 Identity as item in inventory and blended concept .....................................39
2.6 Chapter summary ............................................................................................43
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Chapter 3. Identity and the present. Towards a
cognitive model of the present ..................................................45
3.1 Chapter overview .............................................................................................45
3.2 Aristotle: reason, induction and deduction ..................................................45
3.3 Plotinus and Saint Augustine: knowledge and morality .............................51
3.4 Vox and eidos: time-point matrix and duration-matrix ..............................64
3.5 Chapter summary ...........................................................................................67
Part B. Descriptive Applications
Chapter 4. ‘Innovation’ and ‘creation’ within the
Cognitive Model of the Present .................................................73
4.1 Chapter overview .............................................................................................73
4.2 The Cognitive Model of the Present by Vyvyan Evans ................................74
4.3 Introducing the corpus study of  ‘innovation’ and ‘creation’ .......................77
4.4 Survey of British National Corpus 2007 .......................................................78
4.4.1 Processes and things ..............................................................................78
4.4.2 Verb forms ...............................................................................................79
4.4.3 Nominal forms ........................................................................................81
Statement (1) ...........................................................................................82
4.4.4 Nominals and verbs: distributive proportion .....................................82
Statement (2) ...........................................................................................83
Statement (3) ...........................................................................................83
4.5 Dictionary entries of  ‘create’ and ‘innovate’ word families .........................83
Statement (4) ...........................................................................................83
Statement (5) ...........................................................................................84
4.6 Two working hypotheses .................................................................................84
4.7 Analysis of  ‘innovation’ and  ‘creation’ as concepts .....................................85
4.7.1 Causality and temporality: BNC samples............................................86
4.7.2 Speculating about the limit options in the
conceptualisation process......................................................................87
4.8 Verifying the configurationality hypothesis..................................................89
4.8.1 Configurationality and counterfactuality ............................................90
4.8.2 Conceptual blending account of  ‘innovation’
and ‘creation’ concepts ............................................................................91
4.9 Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................92
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Chapter 5. ‘Innovation’ and ‘creation’ as principles in
institutional management and aesthetics .............................95
5.1 Chapter overview .............................................................................................95
5.2 Towards a synthesis: summary of corpus findings ......................................95
5.3 Example 1. Conceptualisation as an aspect of institutional
management in the policy-making process .................................................96
5.4 Example 2. Conceptualisation as an aesthetic
aspect of literary texts ....................................................................................103
5.5 Example 3. Conceptualisation as an aesthetic aspect
of literary texts (continued) ..........................................................................107
5.6 Example 4. Conceptualisations as an aesthetic
aspect of sacred art .........................................................................................110
5.7 Chapter summary ..........................................................................................113
Chapter 6. Cognitive models of  ‘innovation’ and ‘creation,’
human thought and perceptual modality ...........................115
6.1 Chapter overview ...........................................................................................115
6.2 Determinist results: open-ended and closed reason ..................................115
6.3 Perceptual modality .......................................................................................120
6.4 Chapter summary ..........................................................................................123
General Conclusion ...........................................................................................125
Part C. References
References ..............................................................................................................129
Primary Sources.......................................................................................................129
Pre-modern .....................................................................................................129
Modern ............................................................................................................129
The Bible ..........................................................................................................130
Secondary Sources ...................................................................................................130
List of Figures .......................................................................................................135
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