Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality

by Ruth M. Kempson (Editor)

The attempt to study language as part of cognitive science is apparently being thwarted by the lack of contact and inferential links between current theoretical paradigms. This dynamic collection provides an overview of the relationship between linguistic form and interpretation as exemplified by the most influential of these paradigms - the current Chomskian Government and Binding paradigm, the conflicting Situation Semantics paradigm, the Davidsonian programme and, finally, the new relevance theory of cognition and pragmatics. More ambitiously, it works towards an overall theory of cognition, which, the editor believes, has been facilitated by the assumptions and claims of relevance theory. The contributors to the volume are well known for their work at the language-cognition interface and each essay is a stimulating and insightful consideration of the problem. The editor's introduction will be invaluable to any reader not fully conversant with current theory, providing the necessary background, and her concluding essay is a brilliant exposition of the way in which Relevance Theory can create links whereby apparently disparate views are combined into a unified modular account of language and cognitive processes.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 1989