Research Group
in Analytic Philosophy

Mihaela Popa

I'm a  Beatriu de Pinos Research Fellow. Previously I worked on the Leverhulme Trust funded project "Metaphor and Metonymy: addressing a debate and a neglected problem" led by John Barnden, University of Birmingham.

 

Specialisations: Philosophy of Language, Linguistics

Competencies: Metaethics, Semantics/Pragmatics, Philosophy of Mind, Aesthetics 

Mihaela Popa

Contact

 

mihaelapopawyatt.wordpress.com/ 

 

Curriculum Vitae

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Research Interests

I'm interested in what figures of speech, such as metaphor, irony, etcetera, have to tell us about notions of meaning in language. I'm especially interested in what such speech tells us about the interface between semantics and pragmatics. Figurative speech challenges traditional notions of meaning as residing in the truth of the propositions expressed by a sentence. Currently, I'm investigating the relationship between normativity in meta-ethical discussions and hate speech in philosophy of language through the lense of expressivism. I believe cognitive expressivism can explain in a unified way both value-talk (‘that’s good’) and pejorative talk (‘what a jerk!’). My current project is an attempt to achieve this by looking at their linguistic features and the psychological structure of the attitudes they express.
 
I am the convenor of these reading groups:
Issues in Meta-ethics: Value and Normativity (2014-15/Term 1)
Pejorative Talk and Thought (2015/Term 2).
Harm Speech, Power, and Silencing (2016/Term 2) 
 

Selection of Publications

  • Mihaela Popa, Mihaela Popa-Wyatt. 2016

    Introduction to Special Issue on GO FIGURE: Understanding of Figurative Talk. 

    To appear in Philosophical Studies.

  • Mihaela Popa, Mihaela Popa-Wyatt. 2016

    Compound Figures: Priority and Speech-Act Structure. Special Issue on GO FIGURE: Understanding Figurative Talk. 

    To appear in Philosophical Studies.

  • Mihaela Popa, Stephen J. Barker and Mihaela Popa-Wyatt. 2015

    Irony and the dogma about the force/sense distinction

    Analysis, 75 (1):9-16 

  • Mihaela Popa, Mihaela Popa-Wyatt. 2014

    Pretence and Echo: Towards an Integrated Account of Verbal Irony

    International Review of Pragmatics 6(1):127-168

Links

  • http://www.ub.edu/grc_logos/project_card.php?idProj=45

    https://mihaelapopawyatt.wordpress.com/