Yael Peled

@ypeled.bsky.social

319 Followers 304 Following

A language ethicist in the baking. Research fellow at the MPI MMG (www.mmg.mpg.de/home); website: www.peledy.com.

Ihr, die ihr auftauchen werdet aus der Flut In der wir untergegangen sind Gedenkt Wenn ihr von unseren Schwächen sprecht Auch der finsteren Zeit Der ihr entronnen seid. Gingen wir doch, öfter als die Schuhe die Länder wechselnd Durch die Kriege der Klassen, verzweifelt Wenn da nur Unrecht war und keine Empörung. Dabei wissen wir ja: Auch der Haß gegen die Niedrigkeit Verzerrt die Züge. Auch der Zorn über das Unrecht Macht die Stimme heiser. Ach, wir Die wir den Boden bereiten wollten für Freundlichkeit Konnten selber nicht freundlich sein. Ihr aber, wenn es soweit sein wird Daß der Mensch dem Menschen ein Helfer ist Gedenkt unsrer Mit Nachsicht.
Abstract: There are various ways in which interlocutors can act wrongly in a conversation, many of which have been explored in the growing literature in applied philosophy of language and ethics of communication. The question of whether and to what extent interlocutors are morally responsible for acting wrongly (and omissions) in conversation has received far less attention. In some instances, interlocutors are clearly responsible, e.g., when the speaker uses a slur to intentionally harm another interlocutor, or when a listener deliberately ignores the speaker for no good reason by turning their back on them. In other cases, this is less clear. Arguably, lack of control can exempt interlocutors from being morally responsible for acting wrongly (and for omissions) in dynamically unfolding conversations. In this talk, I will discuss moral responsibility for acting wrongly in conversation in selected cases and with a particular focus on volitional vs. rational control views of moral responsibility. I will sketch some limitations for ascribing moral responsibility in conversation and chart some ways forward.
There is, for example, hardly a school superintendent anywhere, or a college dean, who cannot give us a ready-made sermon on how we now live in an “information age.” Then why do we not have a subject in which students address such questions as these: how does information differ in symbolic form? How are ideographs different from letters? How are images different from words? Paintings from photographs? Speech from writing? Television from books? Radio from television? Information comes in many forms, and at different velocities and in different quantities. Do the differences matter? Do the differences have varying psychic and social effects? The questions are almost endless. This is a serious subject. I do not know the reasons why there is no such subject in most schools, although I have one suspect under surveillance. It is that educators confuse the teaching of how to use technology with technology education. No objection can be raised against students’ learning how to use television and movie cameras, Xerox machines, and computers. (I most certainly believe students ought to be taught how to use the alphabet.) I have no intention of quarrelling with Seymour Papert, Bill Gross, or Alan Kay about the possibility that the intelligent use of computer technology can increase students’ competence in mathematics or stimulate their interest in other subjects. And I endorse those attempts (for example, in New Mexico) to have students make their own television programs so that they will gain insights into the technical problems involved. These are not trivial matters, but they are only a small part of the way in which I define technology education. As I see it, the subject is mainly about how television and movie cameras, Xerox machines, and computers reorder our psychic habits, our social relations, our political ideas, and our moral sensibilities. It is about how the meanings of information and education change as new technologies intrude upon a culture, how the meanings…
The front hardcover of the Norwegian translation of “The Hobbit”, illustrated by Tove Jansson. A figure carrying a shield and an axe stands in front of a mountain range illuminated by the moon, with a dragon hovering above in the sky.
A green VR train at Stockholm Central Station carrying the name “Trainy McTrainface”.
Meditations for the Seder night: what is different, we asked What makes this night different from all other nights, Most of us grew up and we don’t ask anymore, while some continue to ask questions throughout their lives, like when they ask How are you? or What time is it? and move on without hearing the answer. What is different, every night, like an alarm clock whose tick-tock calms us and puts us to sleep What has changed, everything will change. Change is God. Meditations for Seder night: the Torah spoke of four sons One who is wise, one who is wicked, one who is simple, and one who does not know how to ask. But it doesn’t tell us about the one who is good or the one who loves. This is the question that has no answer and if there were an answer I would not want to know it. I who passed all the sons in different combinations, I lived my life, the moon shone on me though I had no need for it and the sun went its way and the Passover holidays passed without answer. What has changed, Change is God and death is God’s prophet. Yehuda Amichai, from “Gods Change, Prayers Remain Forever” translated by Rabbis Rena Blumenthal and Barbara Penzner
Daylight photo of a sign on the street walk outside a cafe, written top to bottom “despresso” followed by a frowning emoji, then “espresso” followed by a smiling emoji.
For everyone with a red line under their name in Microsoft Word.
Note: the required material must be uploaded as ONE document under CV/ Resume (do not upload individual files for a cover letter, references, etc.). The document must be in .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf, or text format- and name of file should not exceed ten (10) characters – also DO NOT USE SYMBOLS (such as accents (é, è, (â, î or ô), ñ, ü, ï , –, _or ç)).
Platform notice: "Labels on your content. You may appeal these labels if you feel they were placed in error. The label: "Sexually Suggestive. Does not include nudity". Source: @moderation.bsky.app. An appeal button provided to facilitate the process.
וְשָׁם, בַּמָּרוֹם, בְּגַן־עֵדֶן – הֵיכָל, וּבוֹ בַּהֵיכָל – כִּסֵּא־הַמַּלְכוּת, וְיוֹשֵׁב לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד, וּבְיָדוֹ הַשַּׁרְבִיט, וַאֲרִי מִימִינוֹ וַאֲרִי מִשְּׂמֹאלוֹ, וְעוֹמְדִים לְפָנָיו מְשָׁרְתָיו וְשָׂרָיו, וְעוֹמְדִים לְפָנָיו רִבְבוֹת חֵילוֹתָיו, וְהַכֹּל – זָהָב. וּמִתַּחַת לַכֶּתֶר יוֹרְדִים תַּלְתַּלָּיו – צְהֻבִּים תַּלְתַּלָּיו שֶׁל הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד, צְהֻבִּים תַּלְתַּלָּיו! וְכֻלּוֹ אַדְמוֹנִי. וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד: ”גַּשׁ אֵלַי, קְטַנְטֹנִי, פֶּתִי שֶׁלִּי, וּרְאֵה – גַּם אֲנִי גִּ’ינְגִּ’י!” וְהִבִּיט אֶל עֵינַי, וְהִבִּיט אֶל תּוֹכִי, וַיִּלְחַשׁ: ”אֶפְרוֹחִי, אֶפְרוֹחִי, גִּ’ינְגִּ’י שֶׁלִּי!” כָּךְ אָמַר לִי דָּוִד, כָּךְ אָמַר לִי הַמֶּלֶךְ. וְאִמָּא שֶׁלִּי – גַּם הִיא שָׁם הָיְתָה עִמָּדִי, וְלָחֲשָׁה: ”מַחְמַדִּי, מַחְמַדִּי . . . ”
Alleged scientific assertions, which are accepted as such because they satisfy moral passions, will excite these passions further, and thus lend increased convincing power to the scientific affirmations in question—and so on, indefinitely. Moreover, such a dynamo-objective coupling is also potent in its own defence. Any criticism of its scientific part is rebutted by the moral passions behind it, while any moral objections to it are coldly brushed aside by invoking the inexorable verdict of its scientific findings. Each of the two components, the dynamic and the objective, takes it in turn to draw attention away from the other when it is under attack. (PK, 244-245).
'At first there were laws. Then there were decrees implementing laws. Then a law was made saying, “There shall be no laws.” Then there were orders and directives that were written down, but still published in ministerial gazettes. Then there was government by announcement; orders appeared in newspapers. Then there were the quiet orders, the orders that were not published, that were within the bureaucracy, that were oral. Finally, there were no orders at all. Everybody knew what he had to do.' (Raul Hliberg, Sources of Holocaust Research)
After Auschwitz By Yehuda Amichai Translated by Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld After Auschwitz, no theology: From the chimneys of the Vatican, white smoke rises -- a sign the cardinals have chosen themselves a Pope. From the crematoria of Auschwitz, black smoke rises -- a sign the conclave of Gods hasn't yet chosen the Chosen People. After Auschwitz, no theology: the inmates of extermination bear on their forearms the telephone numbers of God, numbers that do not answer and now are disconnected, one by one. After Auschwitz, a new theology: the Jews who died in the Shoah have now come to be like their God, who has no likeness of a body and has no body. They have no likeness of a body and they have no body.
Birth Witness in an old wooden row house in the cotton fields. She remembers it was windy. Around one in the afternoon. The tin roof rattled, a piece uplifted from the wooden frame, quivered and flapped as she gave birth. She knew it was March. A windy afternoon in the cotton fields of Arizona. She also used to say I was baptized standing up. “It doesn’t count,” the woman behind the glass window tells me, “if you were not baptized the same year you were born the baptismal certificate cannot be used to verify your birth.” “You need affidavits,” she said. “Your older siblings, you have some don’t you? They have to be old enough to have a memory of your birth. Can they vouch for you?” Who was there to witness my birth? Who was there with my mother? Was it my big sister? Would my mother have let a teenager watch her giving birth? Was it my father? I can imagine my father assisting her with her babies.
Toy Story Everywhere meme: memulaim, memulaim everywhere.
Kristin Snoddon (TMU), "DEAF INTERPRETERS AND EPISTEMIC INJUSTICE" (Monday, 27 January 2025, at 8:00 EST, 14:00 CET; Tuesday, 28 January 2025 at 00:00 AEDT) Abstract: Deaf interpreters (DIs) are sign language interpreters who are deaf and who may work as part of a team with hearing interpreters. When working with a hearing interpreter who uses the same national sign language, the DI’s role is often seen as meeting the needs of deaf clients who are viewed as lacking proficiency in a named language and/or who are viewed as monolingual in a named national sign language. DIs are brokers of understanding who convey meaning to and from individuals at risk of epistemic injustice because of not meeting a logocentric norm. However, with reduced opportunities for deaf children in Canada to learn sign language and a decrease in deaf school populations, the aptitudes and competencies that underlie DI work, including familiarity with diverse deaf lives, are increasingly difficult to acquire. At the same time, due to increasing numbers of Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee deaf individuals as well as deaf people who do not know a standard national sign language, there is an urgent need for DIs to facilitate diverse deaf people’s participation in institutional processes and access to public services. This presentation reports findings from semi-structured and focus group interviews regarding DI developmental experiences and perceived training needs, as part of a three-year study of sign language ideologies and DIs. Short Bio: Kristin Snoddon is a deaf scholar and Associate Professor, School of Early Childhood Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada. Her current research focuses on sign language ideologies and ideologies of understanding.
Article extract: "Employees quoted government handbooks from the 1930s and 1960s, and were unable to answer direct questions about their duties, nor explain why decisions had been made. “The problems piled up, and they let them be,” he said. “They do not see themselves as responsible.” One man introduced himself as the head of the public relations department, which he said included “international co-operation” as well as a division for “festival and events management”. Asked what this division did exactly, the civil servant answered, “flags”. “There’s a department for flags?” Ghazal asked incredulously.  “Yes, when foreign dignitaries come, we put up a lot of flags,” he said. “We hang them from the poles. It’s a big job.” The same department head also had a translation division, staffed by two employees who spoke English. Ghazal asked if there were Russian or Iranian translators — states that propped up the Assad regime and frequently sent envoys — and was told there were none because representatives of these countries brought their own. “But you didn’t have English-speaking dignitaries visit?” “No,” the department head said. Ghazal shook his head. “A ridiculous state,” he said."
A multilingual sign displaying "welcome" in multiple languages - English, Spanish, German, Mandarin, French, Hebrew (in Latinised script), Arabic (the word literally means "the Arabic Language), Italian, Portugese, Korean and Hawaiian.
Wikipedia screenshot of the Gardiner sign list for the letter G, with a caption for sign G1 reading: The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus Neophron. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, West Asia and India. The contrasting underwing pattern and wedge.
Abstract: Often, cases of linguistic injustice are riddled with epistemic injustices, and thus such cases not only require linguistic justice but also epistemic forms of redress. In my view, these types of instances cannot solely be addressed through standard methods for linguistic justice but also require epistemic reparations. Therefore, in this talk, I argue for two points: first, that this is because part of what is unjust in these cases is that there is linguicism and epistemic harms that take place (or linguistic epistemic injustice, Catala 2022). Second, that in such cases of injustice, epistemic redress is necessary. To do this, I apply the epistemic injustice framework to three cases of linguistic injustice in South Africa to capture what is unjust and further problematize standard methods for linguistic justice. Although I appeal to illustrations from South Africa for this talk, the developments here have promising insights beyond the continent. This research takes into account the interests of scholars across disciplines concerned with linguistic (in)justice, language loss, indigenous language preservation, and epistemic injustice. It also contributes to recent work on epistemic reparations by Jennifer Lackey (2022) and the growing scholarship on this topic. I will proceed as follows in this talk: I begin by defining linguistic injustice and introducing key concepts from epistemic injustice. Thereafter, I illustrate three cases of linguistic injustice in South Africa, and based on these cases, I pin down the linguistic problem and the epistemic harm in each case. Following this discussion, I introduce and critique the extant approach from standard theories of linguistic justice. Finally, I argue that epistemic forms of redress may better help address issues of linguistic injustice where there are epistemic harms identified and use the epistemic reparations approach for each case.
Two Button Meme of a man labeled ‘Poli Sci and Ling Double Major’ sweating while struggling to choose between two buttons. One button says ‘All words are made up.’ The other button says ‘No such thing as "word" anyway'.
WALKING MAN: And he is dead. I understand, almost, the meaning of the sounds: the boy is dead. I recognize these words as holding truth. He is dead, he is dead. But his death, his death is not dead. CENTAUR: Yet still it breaks my heart, my son, to think that I have— that one could— that I have found the words.
The goal of the conference is to bring together an interdisciplinary focus on linguistic injustice and inequality, and to highlight new research looking at issues related to language, injustice and inequality. The conference will examine the ways in which individuals and communities are discriminated against due to their language use and repertoires. Participants will explore practical steps which must be taken to move towards linguistic justice and the provision of accessible, equitable systems and services in the public domain.
Multiple frames from AoS S4 Bakshi Report, marking the death of American Hero John Garrett. The captions reads: "and today, we are talking about justice."
Agent John Garrett played by Bill Paxton in dark sweater and white turtle neck in front of a shade-lit background.
1.B H1000 13:30 - 15:30 h Chair: Yael Peled Josep Soler Uncertain Linguistic Justice Helder De Schutter: "Linguistic Justice Upsets Security" Elisabeth Barakos: "Language and Social (In)Justice: Towards Sociolinguistic Considerations" Yael Peled: "Uncertain Linguistic Justice: The Philosophical Sources of Normative Orders in Language" Josep Soler: "Addressing Linguistic Vulnerability and Injustice: Beyond Monoglot Lingua Franca English with an Ethics of Responsibility" Panel Convenors: Yael Peled, Josep Soler
Updated profession signature: Prof. Dr. Yael Peled Research Fellow Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
 Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany Tel. +49 (0)551 4956-138 https://www.mmg.mpg.de/home www.peledy.com Associate Professor (Prof. II) of Philosophy Inland School of Business and Social Sciences Department of Law, Philosophy and International Studies Campus Lillehammer Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences