Public language, private language, and subsymbolic theories of mind

Dupre, Gabe

Abstract

Language has long been a problem-case for subsymbolic theories of mind. The reason for this is obvious: Language seems essentially symbolic. However, recent work has developed a potential solution to this problem, arguing that linguistic symbols are public objects which augment a fundamentally subsymbolic mind, rather than components of cognitive symbol-processing. I shall argue that this strategy cannot work, on the grounds that human language acquisition consists in projecting linguistic structure onto environmental entities, rather than extracting this structure from them.

Citation

Dupre, G. (2022). Public language, private language, and subsymbolic theories of mind. Mind and Language, 38(2), 394-412. https://doi.org/10.1111/mila.12400

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 6, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Journal: Mind & Language
• Print ISSN: 0268-1064
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 394-412
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mila.12400
• Keywords: Linguistics and Language, Philosophy, Language and Linguistics
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/422613
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mila.12400