Robert E

Robert E. Innis

Professor of Philosophy

Department of Philosophy

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Lowell, MA 01854

Robert_Innis@uml.edu

Degrees

1971 Ph.D. Fordham University

1966 STB. Gregorian University (Rome)

1963 BA. St. Mary’s Seminary and University (Baltimore)

Honors and Awards:

Humboldt Foundation Fellow at University of Cologne, Spring 1977.

University Professor, 1981-84. University Scholar, Spring 1985.

Fulbright Professor, University of Copenhagen, Fall 1990 and Fall 1991

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Translation, with introduction, of The Central Texts of Ludwig Wittgenstein by Gerd Brand. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1979. Published in the United States by Basic Books (1979) as The Essential Wittgenstein.

Karl Bühler: Semiotic Foundations of Language Theory. New York: Plenum, 1982.

Semiotics: An Introductory Anthology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985. British edition: Semiotics: An Introductory Reader. London: Hutchinson, 1986.

Meaning and Context: An Introduction to the Psychology of Language. A revised and supplemented edition of Hans Hörmann’s Einführung in die Psycholinguistik. New York: Plenum, 1986.

Critical bilingual edition, translated with introduction and notes, of Johann Christoph Hoffbauer, Tentamina Semiologica (1789), under the title Semiological Investigations. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1991.

Consciousness and the Play of Signs. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994.

Pragmatism and the Forms of Sense: Language, Perception, Technics. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002.

Susanne Langer in Focus: The Symbolic Mind. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.

Articles, Book Chapters, and Review Articles

The Logic of Consciousness and the Mind-Body Problem in Polanyi. International Philosophical Quarterly 13/1 (1973): pp. 81-98

Review article on Knowledge and Human Interests by Jürgen Habermas. International Philosophical Quarterly. 13/4 (1973): pp. 555-563,

Polanyi’s Model of Mental Acts. The New Scholasticism 47/2 (1973): pp. 147-178

Meaning, Thought and Language in Polanyi’s Epistemology. Philosophy Today 18/1 (1974): pp. 47-67.

Agassi on Rationality. Inquiry 18/1 (1974): pp. 97-101.

Review article on Analogy and Philosophical Language by David Burrell. The New Scholasticism 49/2 (1974): pp. 386-398.

Review article on Theory and Practice by Jürgen Habermas. Social Praxis 2/1 (1975): pp. 145-156.

Review article on Truth and Method by Hans-Georg Gadamer. The Thomist 40/2 (1976): pp. 311-321.

The Triadic Structure of Religious Consciousness in Polanyi. The Thomist 40/3 (1976): pp. 393-415.

Art, Symbol, and Consciousness. International Philosophical Quarterly 17/4: 455-476, 1977. Polish translation: Sztuka, Symbol, Swiadomosc. In Semiotyka Dzis I Wczoraj. Wybór Tekstów. Edited by Jerzy Pelc and Leona Koja. Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1991: pp. 98-108.

In Memoriam Michael Polanyi. Zeitschrift für allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 8/1 (1977): pp. 22-29.

Reading Hegel Rightly. The New Scholasticism 52/1 (1978): pp. 110-129.

From Mirror to Labyrinth. Semiotica 25-1/2 (1979): pp. 175-183.

Rosdolsky’s Reconstruction of Marx: From the Abstract to the Concrete. Philosophy and Social Criticism 6/3 (1979): pp. 329-347.

A Wiener Signfest. International Philosophical Quarterly 19/4 (1979): pp. 469-472.

Review article on A Theory of Semiotics by Umberto Eco. International Philosophical Quarterly 20/2 (1980): pp. 221-232.

Notes on the Semiotic Model of Perception. Philosophical Inquiry 2/2-3 (1980): pp. 496-507.

Intersections. Editor’s introductory essay to special double issue, devoted to language, of Philosophy and Social Criticism 7/3-4 (1980): pp. 227-239 (this issue also includes my translation from the Italian of ‘The Quest for Certain Communication’ by Paolo Facchi and, with Héli Hernandez, of ‘On Linguistic Money’ by Ferruccio Rossi-Landi).

Aquinas’s God and the Linguistic Turn. The Thomist 45/4 (1981): pp. 585-598.

Heidegger’s Model of Subjectivity. In Thomas Sheehan (ed.), Heidegger, The Man and the Thinker. Chicago: Precedent Press, 1981: pp. 117-130.

Dewey’s Aesthetic Theory and the Critique of Technology. Phänomenologische Forschungen 15 (1983): pp. 7-42..

Sizing up Signs. Kodikas/Ars Semeiotica 6/1+2 (1983): pp. 115-132.

The Semiotic Relevance of Bühler’s Sprachtheorie. In Semiotics Unfolding. Edited by Tasso Borbé. Berlin and New York: Mouton, 1984: 143-149.

Karl Bühler. In Great Thinkers of the 20th Century. Edited by Elmer Borklund. Detroit and London: Gale,1984: pp. 100-101.

Adrian Stokes. In Great Thinkers of the 20th Century. Edited by Elmer Borklund. Detroit and London: Gale, 1984: pp. 544-545.

Perception, Abstraction and Subjectivity in Bühler’s Language Theory. Rassegna italiana di linguistica applicata January/April (1984): pp. 2-23.

Technics and the Bias of Perception. Philosophy and Social Criticism 11/1 (1984): 67-89, 1984. Polish translation: Technika a sposób widzenia swiata in: Swiat Przezywany. Edited by Zdzislaw Krasnodebski and Klaus Nellen. Warsaw: Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1993.

Bühler und Gardiner: Von der Indikation zur Prädikation. In Achim Eschbach (ed.), Bühler-Studien, vol. 2. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1984: pp. 117-155.

Articulation as Emendation: Philipp Wegener’s Anti-formalist Theory of Language. In John Deely (ed.), Semiotics 1984. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1985: pp. 577-587. Slightly revised version in Udo L. Figge (ed.), Semiotik: Interdisziplinäre und historische Aspekte. Bochum: Brockmeyer, 1989: pp. 289-299, 1989.

Language and the Play of Differences. Differentia 1 (1986): pp. 265-273.

Note on the tasks of semiotics. Semiotica 61/3-4 (1986): p. 377.

Aesthetic Rationality as Social Norm. Phänomenologische Forschungen 20 (1987): pp. 69-90. Italian translation: Razionalità estetica come norma sociale. Metodologia 2 (1987): 93-101. Danish translation: Æstetisk Rationalitæt som social Norm. In: Teknologi/Filosofi. Kampskrift til Dr. Theol. Peter Kemp, edited by Søren F. Lund and Arno Victor Nielsen. Copenhagen: Techne Forlag, 1987: pp. 205-223.

Between Signification and Communication. Semiotica 65/3-4 (1987): pp. 327-342.

The Thread of Subjectivity: Philosophical Remarks on Bühler’s Language Theory. In Achim Eschbach (ed.), Karl Bühler’s Theory of Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1988: pp. 77-106.

Die Überwindung der Assoziationspsychologie durch zeichentheoretische Analyse: James, Peirce, Husserl und Bühler. Zeitschrift für Semiotik 10/4 (1988): pp. 149-173.

Giovanni Vailati: Pragmatism and the Analysis of Meaning. Differentia 3-4 (1989): pp. 177-198.

John Dewey’s ‘Technological’ Pragmatism. Kodikas/Code. 13/3-4 (1990): pp. 329-345.

Karl Bühler. In Sprachphilosophie. Philosophy of Language. La Philosophie du Langage. A Handbook, edited by Marcelo Dascal et al. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1992: pp. 550-562.

Tacit Knowing, Gestalt Theory, and the Model of Perceptual Consciousness. Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, vol. 27 (1992): pp. 23-43.

The Analytic Telos of Semiotic. Semiotica 98-1/2 (1994): pp. 163-179.

From Feeling to Mind: A Note on Langer’s Notion of Symbolic Projection. In:In the World of Signs. Vol. 55 of Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and Humanities. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi, 1997: pp. 189-194.

The Sign Trek Trilogy. The Semiotic Review of Books, Vol. 8.2 (May 1997): pp. 8-11.

Karl Bühler, His Predecessors and Successors. In Handbook of Semiotics, edited by Roland Posner, Thomas Sebeok, and Klaus Robering. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1998: pp. 2198-2204.

Thinking about Nature. Philosophy and Social Criticism. 24/5 (September 1998): pp. 127-136.

Pragmatism and the Fate of Reading. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, Vol. XXXIV, No.4 (Fall 1998): pp. 869-884.

John Dewey et sa glose approfondie de la théorie peircienne de la qualité. Protée (Winter 1998/1999): pp. 89-98.

Cassirer’s Soft Edge. The Semiotic Review of Books 10/1 (January 1999): pp.10-12.

Peirce and Polanyi: Perceptual Consciousness and the Structures of Meaning. In The Peirce Seminar Papers: Essays in Semiotic Analysis, vol. 4. New York and Oxford: Berghahn, 1999: pp. 531-561.

Karl Bühler. Encyclopedia of Psychology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Mindful Semiotics. The Semiotic Review of Books 11/1 (May 2000): 7-12. [A review article on David Lidov, Elements of Semiotics.]

Philosophy and the Play of Life. Focaal-European Journal of Anthropology 37 (2001): 121-142.

Perception, Interpretation, and the Signs of Art. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 15/1 (2001): 20-32. [Slightly different version appears in French translation: La Perception, l’interpretation, et les signes artistiques, Sémiotique peircienne: état des Lieux, eds. Tony Jappy et Joëlle Réthoré. Perpignan: Press Universitaires de Perpignan, 2002: 155-170.]

Form and Technics: Nature, Semiotics, and the ‘Information Revolution.’ In Proceedings of the International Association for Semiotic Studies. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2002.

Homing in on the Range. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 16/4 (2002): 264-272.

The ‘Meanings’ of Technology. Techne 7/1 (2003): 49-58.

The Tacit Logic of Ritual Embodiments. Social Analysis 48/2 (2004):197-212. This issue published as a book, Ritual in Its Own Right, edited by Don Handelman and Galina Lindquist. New York: Berghahn Books, 2005.

Meaning, Art, and Politics: Dimensions of a Philosophical Engagement. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 19/1 (2005): 55-62.

Semiotics. In Encyclopedia of Europe 1914-2004. Scribner’s: New York, 2006.

The Signs of Interpretation. Culture and Psychology 11(4):499-509 (2005).

Dimensions of an Aesthetic Encounter. In: Semiotic Rotations: Modes of Meaning in Cultural Worlds, edited by SunHee Kim Gertz, Jaan Valsiner, and Jean-Paul Breaux. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, pp. 113-134.

The Making of the Literary Symbol: Taking Note of Langer. Semiotica 165-1/4 (2007): 91-106. Won the Mouton d’Or prize for best article of the year in Semiotica.

Placing Langer’s Philosophical Project. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, New Series, 21/1 (2007): 4-15.

Poles of meaning: Pushing language up and down. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science. 42/1 (2008): 20-26.

Response to Tiles, “On Our Exosomatic Existence.” Tradition and Discovery: The Polanyi Society Periodical. 34/2 (1997): 22-25.

Power. In: Encyclopedia of American Philosophy. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Language and the Thresholds of Sense: Some Aspects of the Failure of Words. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy. 22/2 (2008):106-117.

My Way through Signs. Signs and Meanings: Five Questions. Aarhus: Automatic Press/VIP, 2009, pp.

Semiotics of Technology. To appear in Companion to Philosophy of Technology. Oxford: Blackwell’s, 2009.

Susanne Langer. To appear in The Routledge Companion to Semiotics.

Ernst Cassirer. To appear in The Routledge Companion to Semiotics.

Semiotics. Chapter in preparation for The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology.

Book Reviews

Conceptual Idealism by Nicholas Rescher. Foundations of Language 14 (1976): pp. 287-295.

A Reading of Hegel’s ‘Phenomenology of Spirit’ by Quentin Lauer. Thought (December 1976): pp. 441-442. Reviewed again in International Philosophical Quarterly 17/2 (1977): pp. 237-239.

Meaning by Michael Polanyi and Harry Prosch. Journal of Religion October, 1976.

James and Husserl: The Foundations of Meaning by Richard Stevens. Phenomenology Information Bulletin 1 (1978): pp. 18-19,

Husserl: Expositions and Appraisals by F. Elliston and P. McCormick. Thought (March 1978): pp. 215-216

The Way of Discovery by Richard Gelwick. Journal of Religion October, 1978.

Models of Man by Martin Hollis. Human Studies 1/4 (1978): pp. 395-398.

Experimental Phenomenology by Don Ihde. Thought (December 1978): pp. 453-454.

Listening and Voice by Don Ihde. Thought (June 1980): pp. 223-224

Critique of Taste by Galvano della Volpe. The Review of Metaphysics (September 1981): pp. 123-125.

The Role of the Reader by Umberto Eco. The Review of Metaphysics (September 1981): pp. 126-128.

On Human Communication by Colin Cherry. The Review of Metaphysics (December 1981): pp. 372-374.

Wittgenstein and Phenomenology by Nicholas Gier. The Review of Metaphysics (December 1982): pp. 449-451. Reviewed again in Phänomenologische Forschungen 13 (1982): pp. 170-174.

Ludwig Wittgenstein. Personal Recollections, edited by Rush Rhees. The Modern Schoolman (1982): pp. 211-211.

Midwest Studies in Philosophy. Studies in Metaphysics 1979, edited by Peter E. French, Theodore E. Uehling, and Howard K. Wettstein. The Modern Schoolman (1982): pp. 230.

The Dimensionality of Signs, Tools, and Models, by James Bunn. International Philosophical Quarterly 23/1 (1983): pp. 105-106.

Introducing Semiotic. Its History and Doctrine by John Deely. International Philosophical Quarterly 23/3 (1983): pp. 336-338.

Theories of the Symbol by Tzvetan Todorov. The Review of Metaphysics (December 1983): pp. 429-431.

Merleau-Ponty: Language and the Act of Speech by Wayne Froman. The Review of Metaphysics (June 1985): pp. 887-888.

L’Semiosi e l’abduzione by Massimo A. Bonfantini. Journal of Pragmatics (1992): pp. 74-79.

Divine Beauty, by Daniel J. Dombrowski. SAAP Newsletter.

The Ethics of Creativity, by Brian Henning. SAAP Newsletter, No. 105, November 2006, pp. 71-74.

On Interpretive Activity, by Noel E. Boulting, Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society.

Lectures and Papers Read

1. The Mind-Body Problem in Polanyi. Philosophy Club, Boston State College, May 1974.

2. Polanyi and the Linguistic Subject. Meeting of the Polanyi Society, Boston, October 1974.

3. Why is Language a Philosophical Problem? Skidmore College, November, 1974.

4. The Heuristic Relevance of Polanyi’s Epistemological Model. Congress on ‘Progress in Science and Methodology,’ sponsored by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, at Kronberg, West Germany, July 1975.

5. The Linguistic Dimension in Polanyi’s Thought. Skidmore College Conference on the Relevance of Polanyi’s Thought to the Various Disciplines, June 1977.

6. The Semiotic Relevance of Bühler’s Sprachtheorie, 2nd World Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, University of Vienna, July 1979.

7. A New Look at Aesthetic Consciousness. Delivered at seminar, by invitation only, on ‘Die Hermeneutik und die Künste II (Das Problem der Sprache)’, at the Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Jugoslavia, 20 March-3 April 1981.

8. Technics and the Bias of Perception. Lecture given, by invitation only, at conference on ‘Vernunft und soziale Verständigung, sponsored by the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna, 1-7 September, 1983.

9. Articulation as Emendation: Philipp Wegener’s Antiformalist Theory of Language. Paper delivered at Semiotic Society of America meeting at Indiana University, Bloomington, October, 1984.

10. Die Spüren der Subjektivität in Bühler’s Sprachtheorie. Invited paper delivered at the Bühler-Symposium at the University of Essen, West Germany, November 1984.

11. Karl Bühler’s Semiotic Language Theory. Invited lecture to Graduate Group in Semiotics and Department of Linguistics, SUNY at Buffalo, 21 February 1985.

12. Ästhetische Rationalität als soziale Norm. Invited paper at the meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für phänomenologische Forschung, University of Trier, West Germany, April 1985.

13. Philosophical Aesthetics and the Concept of Performance. Invited paper at the Polish Academy of Sciences/IREX meeting on ‘Performance in the Arts: Theory and Practice,’ Warsaw and Nieborow, May 1985.

14. Lecture on aesthetic rationality (in German) at University of Essen, West Germany, October 1985.

15. Lecture on Philipp Wegener to Bochumer Semiotisches Kolloquium, Ruhr Universität, Bochum, October 1985.

16. Lecture on aesthetic rationality as social norm (in Danish) at Filosofisk Forum, Copenhagen, November 1985.

17. Lecture on semiotics and communication (in Danish) at Filosofisk Institut, University of Copenhagen, December 1985.

18. Signs and Sense: Cassirer and Merleau-Ponty. Lecture at the annual meeting of the Semiotic Society of America, San Francisco, October 1986.

19. Gnoseologia pragmatistica e l’analisi dei segni (PragmaticTheory of Knowledge and the Analysis of Signs). Lecture and discussion at the Società di cultura metodologico-operativa. Milan, July, 1987.

20. Panel discussion on ‘Philosophische Semiotik,’ International Congress of German Society for Semiotics, Essen, West Germany, October, 1987.

21. Commentator on Semiotic Models. Annual meeting of Semiotic Society of America, Pensacola, Florida, October, 1987.

22. The Sense of Differentia. Discussion and presentation at Yale University, 30 November 1987.

23. The Multiple Motivations of Technology. Address to Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society, 3 December 1987, University of Lowell.

24. The Sense of Bühler’s Language Theory. Lecture at Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science. February 1988. Boston University.

25. Lecture to Philosophy Colloquium at College of the Holy Cross. October 1988.

26. Giovanni Vailati: Pragmatism and the Analysis of Meaning. Paper read at meeting of American Association of Italian Studies. University of Massachusetts Lowell, April 1989. Also at: Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science, October 1989.

27. The Body in the Mind. Talk to Physics Honors Society, University of Massachusetts Lowell May 1990.

28. Truth and the Theory of Knowledge: The Trail of the Human Serpent. Plenary lecture at tenth anniversary celebration of Filosofisk Forum. Copenhagen, October 1990

29. Væsentlige Aspekter af Sprogfilosofien (Essential Aspects of the Philosophy of Language). University of Copenhagen, October 1990.

30. Between Signs and Forms: Cassirer and the Semiotics of Culture. Plenary invited lecture at University of Odense, Meeting of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies. November 1990. Also presented as one of the ‘Research Fridays’ lectures to Ph.D. students at University of Copenhagen, October 1991.

31. Tavs Erkendelse og Gestaltteori (Tacit Knowing and Gestalt Theory). Filosofisk Forum. Copenhagen, December 1990.

32. Nøglebegreber i Bühlers Sprogteori (Pivotal Concepts of Bühler’s Language Theory). Selskab for Filosofi og Psykologi. University of Copenhagen, December 1990.

33. The Rhythm of the Mind. Talk to Freshman Honor Society, UMass Lowell, 21 April 1994.

34. Aesthetic Critique. Northeast Association of 18th Century Studies. College of the Holy Cross, September 1996.

35. Aesthetic Critique. Annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, March 1997.

36. Pragmatism and the Fate of Reading. Closing plenary session paper at the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, March 1997.

37. Peirce and Polanyi: Perceptual Consciousness and the Structures of Meaning. International Colloquium on Language and Peircean Sign-Theory, Duke University, June 1997.

38. Thinking about Nature. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, October 1997.

39. Form and Technics: Cassirer Thinks about Mind, Media, and the Soft Edge. Presented at the annual meeting of the Semiotic Society of America, University of Toronto, October 1998.

40. Language and the Thresholds of Sense. Presented at the meeting of the International Association of Cognitive Linguistics, Stockholm, July 1999.

41. Form and Technics: Nature, Semiotics, and the Information Revolution. Presented at the meeting of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, Technical University, Dresden, October 1999.

42. Noticing Italy: Montaigne, Goethe, Stendhal, and James. Center for Italian Culture, Newton Free Library, November 1999.

43. Perception, Interpretation, and the Signs of Art. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. October 2000. Penn State University. Another presentation at the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, NYC, December, 2000, under the auspices of the Society for the Philosophy of Creativity.

44. Discussion leader for Robert Corrington, A Semiotic Theory of Philosophy and Theology. Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy Meeting, Las Vegas, March 2001.

45. The Sources of Langer’s Aesthetics. Presented at the meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco, March 2001.

46. The Meanings of Technology. Presented at the meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Minneapolis, May 2001.

47. Perception, Interpretation, and the Signs of Art. Paper discussed at the Peirce Seminar June 2001 meeting at Canet en Rousillon (Perpignan), France.

48. Homing in on the Range. Paper presented at annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Me, March 2002.

49. Meaning, Art, and Politics: Dimensions of a Philosophical Engagement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of the Advancement of American Philosophy, Birmingham Southern College, Birmingham, AL, March 2004.

50. Language and the Forms of Sense. Paper presented at Symposium on Language and Semiotics, University of Hartford, April 2004.

51. Presentation at Semiotics Workshop, sponsored by Henry Leir Center of Clark University, Chateau Schengen, Luxembourg, July 2004.

52. The Relevance of the Semiotics of C.S. Peirce for the Social Sciences. Seminar conducted at Clark University, October 2004.

53. First opponent presentation at DPhil defence devoted to Jesper Hoffmeyer, Livets tegn og tegnenes livet, University of Aarhus, Denmark, June 2005.

54. Presentation at Semiotics Workshop, sponsored by Henry Leir Center of Clark University, Chateau Schengen, Luxembourg, June 2005.

55. Royce and Religious Naturalism. APA December 2006. Washington, DC

56. Placing Langer’s Philosophical Project. SAAP March 2007, Columbia, SC

57. An Aesthetic Encounter: Thinking about Art with Susanne Langer. Lyceum for Applied Philosophy, April 2007, Middle Tennessee State University

58. The Failure of Words. American Philosophies Forum. March 2008. Vanderbilt University

59. Susanne Langer: The Symbolic Mind. Seminar at the Summer Institute for American Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 2008.

Areas of Specialization

Theory of Knowledge Semiotics and Language Theory

World Philosophy Aesthetics

Philosophy of Technology American Philosophy

Courses Taught