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Language first, then shared intentionality, then a beneficent spiral

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2005

Derek Bickerton*
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI96822www.derekbickerton.com

Abstract

Tomasello et al. give a good account of how shared intentionality develops in children, but a much weaker one of how it might have evolved. They are unduly hasty in dismissing the emergence of language as a triggering factor. An alternative account is suggested in which language provided the spark, but thereafter language and shared intentionality coevolved.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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