Written with elegance and ease, Lawrence J. Hatab's book argues that language is embedded in the lived world. Its thorough description of experiences that are not usually considered by philosophy adds a note of surprise. By the end of the book, the reader has gained valuable insights into child development, language acquisition, orality, and the emergence of literacy. This is phenomenological description at its best. Because it uses indicative and not technical concepts, the book can be read not only by experts in phenomenology but also by all those interested in the wonder of human language.

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

This book is a fitting and in many ways surprising completion of the first volume. Hatab's work on language and language acquisition is ground breaking. Influenced by but not subservient to Heidegger, Hatab takes phenomenology in new directions. This is not a book about phenomenology; it is doing phenomenology.

Drew A. Hyland, Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Trinity College, USA

Philosophers who believe in the primacy of embodiment for how we experience the world have labored to ascertain how to make sense of our condition. To approach this question—Hatab asks how does meaning arise amongst humans who are not originally or only verbal, representational beings? Starting with our everyday manner of experiencing, this book is a compelling study of how his “proto-phenomenology” understands human meaning as naturally arising out of our lived condition in opposition to views that restrict meaning within the mental world.

Talia Welsh, professor of philosophy, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA, author of Feminist Existentialism, Biopolitics, and Critical Phenomenology in a Time of Bad Health

This volume will be valuable as a stand-alone work for those interested in phenomenological methods, early cognitive development, primary language acquisition, and the cultural effects of widespread literacy.

Review of Metaphysics

This second volume of Lawrence J. Hatab’s Dwelling in Speech demonstrates the power of phenomenology to challenge both mainstream philosophy and the cognitive sciences which employ its metaphysical assumptions. … Hatab largely avoids Heideggerian terminology to make the work more accessible, developing his own lexicon which calls for some effort but rewards the reader with a wealth of insights into questions of philosophical and scientific import. … [I]n the two volumes of Dwelling in Speech, Lawrence Hatab has applied Heideggerian conceptions such as world disclosure and dwelling to a wide array of philosophical and empirical questions, thereby demonstrating the power of phenomenology to examine underlying metaphysical assumptions and recommend concrete research directions as a result. In particular, the notion of language as world disclosive is most powerful. We also see the richness of the lived world, which is what originally excited Heidegger about Husserl’s work. Hatab helps to bring that vision to fruition with this effort.

Phenomenological Reviews

Lawrence J. Hatab’s Proto-Phenomenology, Language Acquisition, Orality and Literacy: Dwelling in Speech II aims to provide a (“proto-”) phenomenology of language acquisition and becoming-literate at both ontogenetic and cultural-historical scales of analysis. … Hatab’s goal in this work is to add to Heideggerian ontology a much-needed developmental dimension, one that renders explicit how it is that an individual comes to find herself dwelling in a meaningful world. … Hatab’s object is not only the world-building character of language, but also the specific effects of literacy for both children and entire cultures. … Dwelling in Speech II is part of the Rowman & Littlefield “New Heidegger Research” series. For Heideggerians new to 4E cognition, developmental psychology, and literacy studies, this book could be an effective entry into a burgeoning interdisciplinary field. And those already invested in such projects may find inspiration in Hatab’s general orientation and the scope of his project. Employing a phenomenological method while pairing ontogenetic and cultural-historical analyses of human development is a grand task, and we should welcome the attempt.

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences