Language, Consciousness, Culture: Essays on Mental StructureMIT Press, 2009 M01 23 - 432 pages An integrative approach to human cognition that encompasses the domains of language, consciousness, action, social cognition, and theory of mind that will foster cross-disciplinary conversation among linguists, philosophers, psycholinguists, neuroscientists, cognitive anthropologists, and evolutionary psychologists. Ray Jackendoff's Language, Consciousness, Culture represents a breakthrough in developing an integrated theory of human cognition. It will be of interest to a broad spectrum of cognitive scientists, including linguists, philosophers, psycholinguists, neuroscientists, cognitive anthropologists, and evolutionary psychologists. Jackendoff argues that linguistics has become isolated from the other cognitive sciences at least partly because of the syntax-based architecture assumed by mainstream generative grammar. He proposes an alternative parallel architecture for the language faculty that permits a greater internal integration of the components of language and connects far more naturally to such larger issues in cognitive neuroscience as language processing, the connection of language to vision, and the evolution of language. Extending this approach beyond the language capacity, Jackendoff proposes sharper criteria for a satisfactory theory of consciousness, examines the structure of complex everyday actions, and investigates the concepts involved in an individual's grasp of society and culture. Each of these domains is used to reflect back on the question of what is unique about human language and what follows from more general properties of the mind. Language, Consciousness, Culture extends Jackendoff's pioneering theory of conceptual semantics to two of the most important domains of human thought: social cognition and theory of mind. Jackendoff's formal framework allows him to draw new connections among a large variety of literatures and to uncover new distinctions and generalizations not previously recognized. The breadth of the approach will foster cross-disciplinary conversation; the vision is to develop a richer understanding of human nature. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 70
... issues of combinatoriality can be addressed in a fashion as yet impossible in neural terms. Part I, the first five chapters, is an augmented version of the Jean Nicod Lectures. Chapter 1 presents an account of what I mean by mental ...
... issues in cognitive neuroscience, we are poised to extend the fundamental questions of mental structure beyond the language capacity. Chapter 3 updates the inquiry into consciousness undertaken in my 1987 book Consciousness and the ...
... issues as theory of mind, and to open up the scope of investigation to a far broader range of phenomena, some of which reappear in later chapters. Part II interlocks with part I. It takes up the challenge posed by chapter 5, developing ...
... issue of what makes humans special. The discussion in chapters 6–12 veers freely between strict linguistic semantics ... issues of interest to a broader spectrum of readers in cognitive science tend to emerge at unexpected places in the ...
... issues were invaluable in showing me how to present the material in chapters 5, 9, and 10. For material comforts as well as intellectual stimulation, I thank Marc Hauser, who provided me an o‰ce in the Psychology Department at Harvard ...