Open Peer Commentary
Barsalou: Perpetual symbol systems
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Creativity, simulation, and conceptualization
Gilles Fauconnier a1
a1 Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
gfauconnier@ucsd.edu
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AbstractUnderstanding the role of simulation in conceptualization has
become a priority for cognitive science. Barsalou makes a valuable
contribution in that direction. The present commentary points to
theoretical issues that need to be refined and elaborated in order
to account for key aspects of meaning construction, such as negation,
counterfactuals, quantification or analogy. Backstage cognition, with
its elaborate bindings, blendings, and mappings, is more complex than
Barsalou's discussion might suggest. Language does not directly
carry meaning, but rather serves, along with countless other
situational elements, as a powerful instrument for prompting
its construction
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