Computational phenotypes : towards an evolutionary developmental biolinguistics

✍ Scribed by Sergio Balari; Guillermo Lorenzo González

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2013
• Leaves: 254
• Series: Oxford studies in biolinguistics
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This is a book about language as a species-typical trait of humans. It argues that language is not so exceptional after all, as according to the authors it is just the human version of a rather common and conservative organic system that they refer to as the Central Computational Complex.

Content: 1. The Pains of Being Owenians/Chomskyans/Cartesians at heart ; 2. My Beloved Monster ; 3. The Dead End of Communication ; 4. On True Homologues ; 5. Computational Homology ; 6. Introducing Computational Evo Devo ; 7. Other Minds ; 8. Conclusions ; Appendix ; References ; Index
Abstract:

This book, written accessibly for both biologists and linguists, argues that language is not as exceptional a human trait as some linguists believe it to be. It is rather, according to the authors, just the human version of a fairly common and conservative organic system, the Central Computational Complex. Read more...