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Communicative competence and the architecture of the mind/brain

Tirassa, Maurizio (1999) Communicative competence and the architecture of the mind/brain. [Journal (Paginated)]

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Abstract

Cognitive pragmatics is concerned with the mental processes involved in intentional communication. I discuss a few issues that may help clarify the relationship between this area and the broader cognitive science and the contribution that they give, or might give, to each other. Rather than dwelling on the many technicalities of the various theories of communication that have been advanced, I focus on the different conceptions of the nature and the architecture of the mind/brain that underlie them. My aims are, first, to introduce and defend mentalist views of communication in general; second, to defend one such view, namely that communication is a cognitive competence, that is, a faculty, and the underlying idea that the architecture of the mind/brain is domain-specific; and, third, to review the (scarce) neuropsychological evidence that bears on these issues.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:Communication; Mind/brain architecture; Domain generality; Domani specificity; Modularity; Evolutionary psychology; Mental states; Consciousness
Subjects:Neuroscience > Neuropsychology
Philosophy > Philosophy of Language
Psychology > Cognitive Psychology
Philosophy > Philosophy of Mind
Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Linguistics > Pragmatics
ID Code:3584
Deposited By:Tirassa, Prof. Maurizio
Deposited On:06 May 2004
Last Modified:12 Sep 2007 17:51

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