Pinker on the thinker: Against mentalese monopoly
| Abstract | thought and problem solving in persons lacking natural language altogether would be a decisive challenge, but there is no clear evidence of any abstract thinking capabilities similar to those evinced by the scientists. Pinker cites languageless persons rebuilding broken locks - this is evidence of perhaps visual imagery, but not mentalese (at least not without quite a bit more detail and argument than we are given). Spiders, e.g., build marvelous things, but no inference to spiderese appears to be warranted. There simply is much we don | |||||||||
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Similar books and articlesSelmer Bringsjord (2001). Are We Evolved Computers?: A Critical Review of Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works. [REVIEW] Philosophical Psychology 14 (2):227 – 243.
Ruth G. Millikan (1997). On Cognitive Luck: Externalism in an Evolutionary Frame. In P. Machamer & M. Carrier (eds.), Mindscapes: Philosophy, Science, and the Mind. Pittsburgh University Press and Universtaetsverlag Konstanz.
Dan I. Slobin (2002). What Language is “Mentalese”? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (6):700-701.
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Andrew Pessin (1995). Mentalese Syntax: Between a Rock and Two Hard Places. Philosophical Studies 78 (1):33-53.
David J. Cole (1999). I Don't Think So: Pinker on the Mentalese Monopoly. Philosophical Psychology 12 (3):283-295.
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