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Are representations glorified receptors? On use and usage of mental representations

  • Paweł Grabarczyk ORCID logo EMAIL logo
From the journal Semiotica

Abstract

In the paper I present an application of Jerzy Pelc’s functional semiotics to contemporary cognitive science. I argue that, even though the original theory addressed only linguistic representations, it can be fruitfully applied to mental representations. I show how Pelc’s distinction between use and usage helps us clarify the notion of mental representations and how it makes it immune to skeptical challenges presented in contemporary cognitive science literature.


Corresponding author: Paweł Grabarczyk, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland; and IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, E-mail:

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Received: 2021-01-23
Accepted: 2021-01-31
Published Online: 2021-03-29
Published in Print: 2021-05-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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