Philosopher to Discuss Human, Nonhuman Animal Communication in UA Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Dorit Bar-On, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, will discuss the relationship between human and nonhuman animal communication in the final lecture of The University of Alabama’s 2014-2015 Philosophy Today series.

Her lecture, “The Origin of Meaning,” will be held Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in room 205 of Smith Hall on the UA campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Bar-On specializes in the philosophy of language and mind, epistemology and metaethics. In 2010, she founded the “Expression, Communication, and the Origins of Meaning” research group as part of a four-year National Science Foundation grant for collaborative research.

In her lecture, Bar-On will discuss what separates human linguistic communication from all forms of nonhuman animal communication. She will argue that the focus on the role of communicative intentions renders the evolutionary emergence of language more ambiguous than it needs to be.

Instead, she proposes that meaningful linguistic communication should be seen as lying on a continuum with animals’ expressive communication.

A native of Israel, Bar-On completed her bachelor’s degree at Tel Aviv University and received master’s and doctorate of philosophy degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

She has held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Rochester and a visiting position at Tel Aviv University.

Lectures in the Philosophy Today series are geared toward a general audience and are of interest to those in any profession or academic discipline.

Philosophy Today is sponsored by the UA College of Arts and Sciences’ department of philosophy, a grant from Louis W. Perry and other alumni, and friends of the department.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.