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Brain and the Lexicon

The Neural Basis of Inferential and Referential Competence

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Fabrizio Calzavarini

    1. Department of Letters, Philosophy, Communication, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy, Center for Logic, Language, and Cognition, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

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  • Offers a novel, neurocognitive theory of lexical semantic competence
  • Combines neuroscientific analysis with insights from the philosophical and linguistic traditions
  • Sits at the intersection between philosophical semantics, linguistics, neurolinguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, and clinical psychology

Part of the book series: Studies in Brain and Mind (SIBM, volume 15)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Fabrizio Calzavarini
    Pages 1-3

  3. A Philosophical Distinction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
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    2. Truth-Conditional Cognitivism and Inferential Competence

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 7-32

    3. Truth-Conditional Cognitivism and Referential Grounding

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 33-60

  4. An Empirical Hypothesis

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
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    2. Inferential and Referential Lexical Competence

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 63-94

  5. The Neuroscience Evidence

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 95-95
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    2. Functional Dissociation

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 97-123

    3. Anatomical Dissociation

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 125-146

  6. The Inferential and the Referential Neural Systems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 147-147
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    2. The Inferential and the Referential Neural Systems

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 149-177

  7. Complicating the Picture

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 179-179
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    2. The Role of the Referential (Visual) Cortex for Inferential Competence

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 181-212

    3. Conclusion

      • Fabrizio Calzavarini
      Pages 213-215
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Keywords

About this book

This monograph offers a novel, neurocognitive theory concerning words and language. It explores the distinction between inferential and referential semantic competence. The former accounts for the relationship of words among themselves, the latter for the relationship of words to the world. The author discusses this distinction at the level of the human brain on both theoretical and neuroscientific grounds. In addition, this investigation considers the relation between the inf/ref neurocognitive theory and other accounts of semantic cognition proposed in the field of neurosemantics, as well as some potential implications of the theory for clinical neuroscience and the philosophy of semantics. Overall, the book offers an important contribution to the debate about lexical semantic competence. It combines a strong philosophical and linguistic background with a comprehensive and critical analysis of neurosemantic literature. Topics discussed lie at the intersection of philosophical semantics, linguistics, neurolinguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, and clinical psychology. Due to its interdisciplinary orientation, coverage is rich in introductory remarks and not overly technical, therefore it is accessible to non-experts as well.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Letters, Philosophy, Communication, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy, Center for Logic, Language, and Cognition, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Fabrizio Calzavarini

About the author

Fabrizio Calzavarini is a Post doc Researcher at University of Bergamo, Italy, and is affiliated at with the Center for Logic, Language, and Cognition, Turin, Italy. His research is organized into two interrelated streams. One stream falls at the intersection between the philosophy and neuroscience of semantics, focusing on the neural substrates of lexical competence. The other stream addresses philosophical issues in neuroscience more generally. He is the co-organizer of Neural Mechanisms Online, a series of webinars and web-conferences in the philosophy of neuroscience.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Brain and the Lexicon

  • Book Subtitle: The Neural Basis of Inferential and Referential Competence

  • Authors: Fabrizio Calzavarini

  • Series Title: Studies in Brain and Mind

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27588-4

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-27587-7Published: 09 January 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-27590-7Published: 26 August 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-27588-4Published: 08 January 2020

  • Series ISSN: 1573-4536

  • Series E-ISSN: 2468-399X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 215

  • Number of Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations, 20 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Linguistics, Neuropsychology

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