I. Formal Language as Language Distilled
	A. Introduction
		1. Main thesis (I)
			a. There is an identifiable area of study, emerging in the last century from several disciplinary directions, which centers on {/b formal languages and systems}.
		2. Main thesis (II)
			a. Although this area is not widely recognized, it is becoming increasingly important, and deserves more attention and focus.
		3. Main thesis (III)
			a. This area has deep roots in human nature and endeavor, and represents a(n on-going) culmination of several long-term trends.
		4. Main thesis (IV)
			a. Given the above, this area is a natural focus for inter-disciplinary study at liberal arts colleges (among others).
		5. Purposes of the talk
			a. I hope to inform you of the nature of formal language, recount some of its history, convince you of its relevance ... and advertise some curriculum!
	B. The origins and development of language
		1. Julian Jaynes on the origins of consciousness and language
			a. posits that language and consciousness arose together between the two hemispheres of the brain, modeling social structure
			b. \break ("The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind," Houghton Mifflin, 1976)
		2. Robert Logan on the computing as "The Fifth Language" (Stoddart, 1995)
			a. a disciple of McLuhan, identifies five broad kinds of language (in historical progression): speech, writing, mathematics, science and computing
		3. Language versus machines
			a. I would diverge a bit from Logan, by focusing more on the abstract formalisms that computers engender, and less on the physical devices themselves
		4. Paul Levinson on the "natural history" of the information revolution
			a. explores computing as the (current) culmination in development of media technology starting with speech (and notes pattern of loss and recovery)
			b. \break ("The Soft Edge," Routledge, 1997)
		5. A broad conception of language
			a. in these contexts, language is seen as a technology for transmitting and storing ideas, but also for shaping, clarifying and inspiring them
		6. An alternative view: Richard Duke on gaming
			a. somewhere between Monopoly and Dungeons and Dragons, Duke's role-playing games serve as a rich medium for communicating complex models and situations
			b. \break ("Gaming: the Future's Language," Sage, 1974)
	C. The emergence of formal language
		1. Language as a rule-based system
			a. along with natural laws, social laws and games, language represents one of our earliest (individual and collective) experiences with rules
		2. Consciousness of rules in formal language
			a. although notions of grammaticality run deep, overt awareness of the rules of language as such seems to be unnecessary and relatively uncommon
			b. \fig{grandpere.gif}
		3. Language and the original liberal arts
			a. in classical and medieval academics, the liberal arts were organized into the Trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (mathematics)
		4. Organic versus designed languages
			a. since at least the 17th century, overtly {\em designed} languages have been promoted as vehicles to facilitate peace, common understanding, clear thought, etc.
			b. (see Umberto Eco's "The Search for a Perfect Language," Blackwell, 1995)
		5. Semi-formal language in science and mathematics
			a. with the advent of scientific investigation and communication, and especially with mathematics, precise models are codified in "domain-specific" notations
			b. (mathematicians, nevertheless, still focus more on semantic structures and reasoning than on the language used to describe and convey them)
		6. Language formalized in algebra and logic
			a. by the beginning of the 20th century, Dedekind, Boole, Frege and others had begun to apply the focussing precision of mathematical analysis to its own notations and rules
		7. The limits of formalism recognized
			a. with the 1930's, Church, Turing and Goedel had proven by logical means (!) that logical means were inadequate to provide their own justification
	D. Modern developments and computing
		1. The Chomsky hierarchy
			a. in the 50's and 60's, Noam Chomsky showed that various mechanisms for describing sets of strings could be arranged into a hierarchy of complexity
		2. Non-human interpreters of language
			a. with the 1940's, the first electronic computers were developed: now mechanical devices are able to receive, process and react to language and information
		3. Low-level and high-level languages
			a. the "native language" of machines is a sequence of simple instructions; realistic human usage required the development of more abstract, structured language
		4. Programming paradigms
			a. as language design has progressed, different "semantic styles" (world-views?) have developed; some of these are well-matched to formal systems
		5. Language interpretation versus structural description
			a. although the upper level of Chomsky's hierarchy is computationally complete, it does not address the interpretation or meaning of strings directly
	E. Nature and structure of formal languages and systems
		1. A general view of language in relation to reality and mind
			a. \xlink{figs/langreality.gif}{(picture linked here)}
		2. Terms and derivations
			a. \xlink{figs/formal.gif}{(picture linked here)}
		3. Mathematics perspective
			a. Mathematics provides abstract conceptual structures and a long tradition of (relatively informal) proof
		4. Logic perspective
			a. Logic provides the detailed analysis of formal systems and their relation to human reasoning
		5. Linguistics perspective
			a. Linguistics provides the original model of language (more complex than any formal one), and a diifficult domain for applications
		6. Computer Science perspective
			a. Computer Science provides the automation of formal systems and the incentive to formalize fully
		7. Some graduate programs and institutions
			a. \xlink{http://www-csli.stanford.edu/}{Stanford's Center for the Study of Logic and Information (CSLI)}
			b. \xlink{http://www.illc.uva.nl/}{Amsterdam's Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC)}
			c. \xlink{http://www.folli.uva.nl/}{FoLLI, the European Association for Logic, Languae and Information}
			d. \xlink{http://www.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/research/groups/gllc/}{the Group of Logic, Language and Computation at King's College, London}
			e. \xlink{http://www.cllc.vuw.ac.nz/}{Centre for Logic, Language and Computation at Victoria University Wellington}
			f. \xlink{http://www.indiana.edu/~nasslli/index.html}{various departments at Indiana University}
			g. \xlink{http://www.indiana.edu/~nasslli/index.html}{various departments at Indiana University}
	F. Willamette departments and courses
		1. the new Linguistics class
			a. focuses on the analysis of traditional natural languages, and introduces some formal techniques for describing their structure and rules
		2. Mathematics Department
			a. courses in {\it Foundations of Advanced Math} and {\it Discrete Mathematics} focus on logic and structure
			b. (Calculus remains a traditional gate-way/introduction)
		3. Philosophy Department
			a. {\it Symbolic Logic} introduces a formal approach to logic; {\it Philosophy of Language} grapples with difficult issues in the conceptual foundations of language
			b. (introductory philosophy course provides basic concepts, terms and methodology)
		4. Computer Science Department
			a. {\it Architecture and Compilers} treats automatic translation; {\it Language, Logic and Computation} addresses formal langauge structure and semantics
			b. (introductory programming provides basic concepts and skills)
		5. An interdisciplinary program?
			a. \xlink{figs/curric.gif}{(picture linked here)}
		6. Why study formal languages?
			a. as tools for formalizing language (É)
			b. as tools for automatic manipulation
			c. as an simplified, idealized model of language
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