On minds and symbols : the relevance of cognitive science for semiotics
1. Semiotics and cognition. Critique of pure semiotics. Just how pure is pure semiotics? Morris and Peirce on mentalism. Mentalism reconsidered. John Deely on signs and ideas -- 2. Cognition in the wake of the linguistic turn. The linguistic turn. Antimentalism and formalism within the analytic tradition. Reasons for the cognitive shift. Problems with cognitivism: the language of thought and the formalist stance. The second phase of cognitivism. Connectionism and the multiplicity of mind -- 3. Beyond traditional mentalism. General Principles of Cognitivism. Cognitivism and objections to traditional mentalism. The language of thought and computational theories of mind -- 4. Prelude to a cognitive theory of symbols. Truth conditions, conventions, and cultural units. On symbols and indices. Symbols reconsidered -- 5. Steps towards a theory of representations. Criteria for evaluating cognitive theories. Preliminaries for a theory of representations. Dretske's model of elementary behavior6. Functional autonomy and the arbitrariness of symbols. Perception and understanding. Functional autonomy. Functional autonomy and the relation of signification. Functional autonomy and cross-modal transfers. Functional autonomy and imagination. Functional autonomy and the evolution of symbolic communication -- 7. The development of symbolic communication in children. Piaget's sensorimotor period and the child's first words. Intentions in young children. The child's conceptual system. Pure performatives and functional autonomy. Cognition and social development
1951by Thomas C. Daddesio24 cm
