Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Actions, philosophy: Actions are conscious or unconscious human actions as opposed to physical events. The action can take place against the will of the agent, but only if the opposed will is not strong enough to prevent the execution entirely._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Peter Gärdenfors on Actions - Dictionary of Arguments
I 15/16 Action/Meaning/Language/Gärdenfors: Thesis: Actions, especially exercised forces have an influence on meanings of our linguistic expressions. See Johnson (1987)(1), Clark (1997)(2), Mandler (2004, especially pp. 118-119)(3). I 91 Action/Gärdenfors: Speaking and listening are traditionally understood as autonomous actions. H. Clark (1996, p.19)(4) Thesis: one should understand both as participatory actions. Gärdenfors: It is about bringing the spirit of the participants together. >Meeting of Minds. Predecessor of this view: G. H. Mead (1934)(5). I 145 Acts/Linguistics/Gärdenfors: many of our cognitive representations affect dynamic properties (as opposed to properties denoted by most nouns and adjectives). (See van Gelder, 1995, Port & van Gelder, 1995)(6). Conceptual Space/Action/Gärdenfors: Thesis: the action space can be treated as the colour space or the shape space. Action/Gärdenfors: Thesis: Actions can be described as force patterns. >Space/Lakoff. I 146 Actions/Language/Gärdenfors: many of our everyday concepts come from acts and events, many words for artefacts - such as chairs, clocks, etc. - are categorized according to their functional properties. (See Nelson, 1996, Mandler, 2004).(7) (8) I 148 Action/Representation/Gärdenfors: Thesis: an action is represented by the force pattern, which produces it. N.B.: a consequence of this thesis is that the actors are not part of the representation. Conceptual space: the conceptual space for actions is therefore a configurational space that includes the movements e.g. of body parts. It is based on the force space. As in the case of forms, there is also a meronomic (part-whole) structure in forces. (See Westera, 2008, Robot Control).(9) I 153 Action/Categories/Function/Gärdenfors: Thesis on concepts of action: a concept of action is represented as a convex region of the space of action. Convex: one can interpret that here in the way that a linear "morph" (e.g. hiking, running, marching) between two actions within a region of a concept of action will fall under the same concept. I 198 Actions/Gärdenfors: Conclusion: 1. The models of action and the models for property changes make it possible to predict the similarities of verbs and their superordinate and subordinate hierarchies. 2. The distinction between course of action/result is directly derived from the assumption of a single area. 3. The role of intentionality in the verb meaning is underlined. Many verbs, which seem to contravene the assumption of a single space, have a dual lexical potential. Verbs: can be analyzed similarly to the pointing and similar to nouns and adjectives. Therefore, I do not divide verbs into classes. I 199 Pro verbs/Gärdenfors: Verbs like "is", "go", "make" are often placeholders for verbs of the course of action or property change. I call them "pro verbs" analog to pronouns. 1. Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind: The bodily basis of cognition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2. Clark, A. (1997). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 3. Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of mind: Origins of conceptual thought. New York: Oxford University Press. 4. Clark, H. (1996). Using Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 5. Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 6. Port, R. F., & van Gelder, T. (Eds.). (1995). Mind as motion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 7. Nelson, K. (1996). Language in cognitive development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 8. Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of mind: Origins of conceptual thought. New York: Oxford University Press. 9. Westera, M. (2008). Action representations and the semantics of verbs. Bachelor’s thesis. Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, Utrecht University._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gä I P. Gärdenfors The Geometry of Meaning Cambridge 2014 |
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