Language and embodiment—Or the cognitive benefits of abstract representations

Mind and Language 36 (1):27-47 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Cognition, it is often heard nowadays, is embodied. My concern is with embodied accounts of language comprehension. First, the basic idea will be outlined and some of the evidence that has been put forward in their favor will be examined. Second, their empiricist heritage and their conception of abstract ideas will be discussed. Third, an objection will be raised according to which embodied accounts underestimate the cognitive functions language fulfills. The remainder of the paper will be devoted to arguing for the cognitive indispensability of non-embodied, abstract representations by highlighting some of the cognitive benefits they bestow upon us.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Intermediate representations exclude embodiment.Guy Dove - 2013 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 36 (4):353 - 354.
Types of body representation and the sense of embodiment.Glenn Carruthers - 2008 - Consciousness and Cognition 17 (4):1316.
Common mistakes about numerical representations.Mauro Pesenti & Michael Andres - 2009 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32 (3-4):346-347.
Representation-hunger reconsidered.Jan Degenaar & Erik Myin - 2014 - Synthese 191 (15):3639-3648.
The return of concept empiricism.Jesse J. Prinz - 2005 - In H. Cohen & C. Leferbvre (eds.), Categorization and Cognitive Science. Elsevier.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-10-24

Downloads
43 (#324,904)

6 months
3 (#447,120)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

References found in this work

Meaning.Herbert Paul Grice - 1957 - Philosophical Review 66 (3):377-388.
Perceptual symbol systems.Lawrence W. Barsalou - 1999 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22 (4):577-660.
Explaining Behaviour: Reasons in a World of Causes.Andy Clark - 1990 - Philosophical Quarterly 40 (158):95-102.

View all 44 references / Add more references