Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The evolution of convex categories

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Linguistics and Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gärdenfors (Conceptual spaces, 2000) argues that the semantic domains that natural language deals with have a geometrical structure. He gives evidence that simple natural language adjectives usually denote natural properties, where a natural property is a convex region of such a “conceptual space.” In this paper I will show that this feature of natural categories need not be stipulated as basic. In fact, it can be shown to be the result of evolutionary dynamics of communicative strategies under very general assumptions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akin E., Hofbauer J. (1982). Recurrence of the unfit. Mathematical Biosciences 61, 51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aurenhammer F. (1991). Voronoi diagrams—a survey of a fundamental geometric data structure. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 23(3): 345–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cressman R. (2003). Evolutionary dynamics and extensive form games. MIT Press, Cambridge (MA)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gärdenfors P. (2000). Conceptual spaces. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofbauer J., Sigmund K. (1998). Evolutionary games and population dynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jäger G., van Rooij R. (2007). Language structure: Psychological and social constraints. Synthese 159(1): 99–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis D. (1969). Convention. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith J. (1982). Evolution and the theory of games. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith J., Price G.R. (1973). The logic of animal conflict. Nature 246(5427): 15–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metz J.A.J., Geritz S.A.H., Meszéna G., Jacobs F.J.A., van Heerwaarden J.S. (1996). Adaptive dynamics, a geometrical study of the consequences of nearly faithful reproduction. In: van Strien S.J., Lunel S. M.V. (eds). Stochastic and spatial structures of dynamical systems. Amsterdam, North Holland, pp. 183–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Oechssler J., Riedel F. (2001). Evolutionary dynamics on infinite strategy spaces. Economic Theory 17(1): 141–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas B. (1985). On evolutionarily stable sets. Journal of Mathematical Biology 22, 105–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Linguistics and Literature, University of Bielefeld, PF 10 01 31, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Gerhard Jäger

Authors
  1. Gerhard Jäger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerhard Jäger.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jäger, G. The evolution of convex categories. Linguist and Philos 30, 551–564 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-008-9024-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-008-9024-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation