"The" fifth modality; on languages that shape our motivations and cultures.

9789004162358

"The" fifth modality; on languages that shape our motivations and cultures.

Roberts, Carl W.

BRILL

2008

191 pages

$129.00

Hardcover

International comparative social studies

HM1106

Roberts (sociology and statistics, Iowa State U.) distinguishes between cultures based solely in terms of how their members typically understand each other's motivations. The issue arises, he says, when people who are not well acquainted encounter each other, and so must rely on a cultural default in order to understand why people act as they do. He argues that each culture's understanding of personhood is maintained as people consistently use a language-of-motivation when referring to each other. His goal is to make the grammars of these languages explicit.

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