Philosophy of language and intercultural communication, translation

The lecture convened the staff of the Foreign Languages Department of the Agrarian and Technological Institute, Ph.D. students and students enrolled in “Translator” program at the Agrarian and Technological Institute. The scientific event attracted an audience of 77 participants.

The lecture offered a thought-provoking general introduction to semantics with a special emphasis on semantic vagueness. The lecturer opted to focus on the notion of meaning, he then discussed the definition of semantic vagueness through the lens of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s “Philosophical Investigations” and turned to the experiment of the sociolinguist William Labov.

“Semantic vagueness turns out to be an integral property of the language, characterizing it functionally and creatively” — invited lector Angelo Loreti (Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy of Language and Communication, Faculty of Philosophy, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU))

During the course of the scientific event Angelo Loreti analyzed some of the main questions concerning philosophy of language, intercultural communication, translation, interconnection and interaction of language and culture in the context of modern scientific paradigm.

The lecture offered attendees a wonderful opportunity to explore the concept of semantic vagueness, its theoretical depth and its potential as one of the questions that come up in practice when it comes to intercultural communication and translation.

After the lecture, attendees took part in Q&A session.

“A very interesting and practically useful scientific and methodological seminar. It was very exciting to learn more about language interactions in different languages and cultures, difficulties of translating lexical units from one language to another. Thank you for the experience!” — Anastasia S. Kostomarova, Foreign Languages Department, Agrarian and Technological Institute, RUDN University

“The lecture was very interesting and full of food for thought for the audience who asked Dr. Loreti some questions at the end of his particularly long and articulate lecture” — Lucio Giuliodori, Associate Professor, Foreign Languages Department, Agrarian and Technological Institute, RUDN University

“I am happy to have attended the seminar. Angelo Loreti is a wonderful lecturer. I would like to thank him for his lecture accompanied by a very informative presentation. I was inspired by the seminar to learn more about Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most important philosophers of the XX century. It was an exciting opportunity to deepen understanding and knowledge of issues in the field of the development of analytical philosophy, language and intercultural communication” — Polina I. Kuznetcova, fourth-year student, Institute of Medicine, RUDN University

“I really liked the scientific and methodological seminar with the participation of Angelo Loreti (Italy). It was very useful to learn about language from the point of view of philosophy, about philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, his theory of ‘language games’ and about the use of surrealist paintings as an example in his theory!” — Daria V. Averina, second-year student, Agrarian and Technological Institute, RUDN University