Peter Gärdenfors

A novel cognitive theory of semantics that proposes that the meanings of words can be described in terms of geometric structures. In The Geometry of Meaning, Peter Gärdenfors proposes a theory of semantics that bridges cognitive science and linguistics and shows how theories of cognitive processes, in particular concept formation, can be exploited in a general semantic model. He argues that our minds organize the information involved in communicative acts in a format that can be modeled in geometric or topological terms--in what he terms conceptual spaces, extending the theory he presented in an earlier book by that name. Many semantic theories consider the meanings of words as relatively stable and independent of the communicative context. Gärdenfors focuses instead on how various forms of communication establish a system of meanings that becomes shared between interlocutors. He argues that these "meetings of mind" depend on the underlying geometric structures, and that these structures facilitate language learning. Turning to lexical semantics, Gärdenfors argues that a unified theory of word meaning can be developed by using conceptual spaces. He shows that the meaning of different word classes can be given a cognitive grounding, and offers semantic analyses of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and prepositions. He also presents models of how the meanings of words are composed to form new meanings and of the basic semantic role of sentences. Finally, he considers the future implications of his theory for robot semantics and the Semantic Web.

Semantics Based on Conceptual Spaces

The Geometry of Meaning

semantics based on conceptual spaces

Geometry of meaning

This is a new edition of Gardenfors' classic text, presented to the community with a Foreword by David Makinson and an appendix containing a paper "Relations between the logic of theory change and nonmonotonic logic" by the author and David Makinson. The following describes the first edition: Knowledge in Flux presents a theory of rational changes of belief, focusing on revisions that occur when the agent receives new information that is inconsistent with the present epistemic state. It brings together, systematises and enlarges upon an already influential body of work by the author and his colleagues on the dynamics of theories and epistemic states. The problem of knowledge representation is one of the most important current research problems in philosophy, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science in general. While most of the research has been devoted to analysing the structure of epistemic states, this book is unique in describing the dynamics of knowledge and belief, and in presenting models of knowledge that focus on expansions, revisions, and contractions of epistemic states. "Knowledge in Flux is sure to be widely recognised as the most important systematic contribution to these issues yet made." David J. Israel, Senior Computer Scientist, SRI International Peter Gardenfors is a Professor in Cognitive Science at Lund University.

Modeling the Dynamics of Epistemic States

Knowledge in Flux

Our ability to 'think' is really one of our most puzzling characteristics. What it would be like to be unable to think? What would it be like to lack self-awareness? The complexity of this activity is striking. 'Thinking' involves the interaction of a range of mental processes--attention, emotion, memory, planning, self-consciousness, free will, and language. So where did these processes arise? What evolutionary advantages were bestowed upon those with an ability to deceive, to plan, to empathize, or to understand the intention of others? In this compelling new work, Peter Gardenfors embarks on an evolutionary detective story to try and solve one of the big mysteries surrounding human existence--how has the modern human being's way of thinking come into existence. He starts by taking in turn the more basic cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, then builds upon these to explore more complex behaviors, such as self-consciousness, mindreading, and imitation. Having done this, he examines the consequences of "putting thought into the world" -i.e., using external media like cave paintings, drawings, and writing. Immensely readable and humorous, the book will be valuable for students in psychology and biology, and accessible to readers of popular science.

On the Evolution of Thinking

How Homo Became Sapiens

A new theory of conceptual representations as a bridge between the symbolic and connectionist approaches.

The Geometry of Thought

Conceptual Spaces

Christian Freksa

Nora S. Newcombe

Stefan Wölfl

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Spatial Cognition 2008, held in Freiburg, Germany, in September 2008. The 27 revised full papers presented together with 3 invited lectures were carefully reviewed and selected from 54 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on spatial orientation, spatial navigation, spatial learning, maps and modalities, spatial communication, spatial language, similarity and abstraction, concepts and reference frames, as well as spatial modeling and spatial reasoning.

International Conference Spatial Cognition 2008, Freiburg, Germany, September 15-19, 2008. Proceedings

Spatial Cognition VI. Learning, Reasoning, and Talking about Space

Jaroslaw Pluciennik

This volume raises provocative questions about the status of words and literature in contemporary culture. It argues that words and images are equal and that the vast number of text messages, e-mails, tweets, comments, blogs, and daily social network posts confirms textuality's central role in new media. This is especially true of writing, as old and new forms mix online and off, reconfiguring so prolifically that no single theory can explain it, let alone project its future. This volume explores multiple questions in depth: are microblogs a new literary genre? What happens when Japanese haiku crosses cultures? Is writing still an act of individuality or has it become a modern technological innovation?

Writing as a Lifestyle

Online/Offline - Between Text and Experience

Jens S. Allwood

Toward the end of the 20th century, there is both a dissatisfaction with existing formal semantic theories and a wish to preserve insights from other semantic traditions. Cognitive semantics, the latest of the major trends which have dominated the century, attempts to do this by focusing on meaning as a cognitive phenomenon. This book provides different perspectives on meaning as a cognitive phenomenon. Jens Allwood presents an approach where meaning is analyzed in terms of context sensitive cognitive operations. Peter Gärdenfors examines the relationship between cognitive semantics and standard formal extensional and intensional semantics. Peter Harder discusses the relation between functionalism and cognitive semantics. Sören Sjöström and +ke Viberg extend a cognitive semantic approach to new empirical domains like vision and physical contact. Elisabeth Engberg Pedersen extends the use of cognitive semantics even further in order to analyze deaf sign language and, finally, Kenneth Holmqvist and Jordan Zlatev discuss two different possibilities of implementing a cognitive semantic approach using computer programs. The variety of perspectives on cognitive semantics make this book suitable as course material.

Meaning and Cognition

Cognitive Semantics

K. Kijania-Placek

Jan Wolenski

This is the first of two volumes containing papers submitted by the invited speakers to the 11th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held in Cracow in 1999, under the auspices of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. The invited speakers are the leading researchers and accordingly the book presents the current state of the intellectual discourse in the respective fields. The papers delivered at the congress were divided into 17 sections. Thus the structure of the volume corresponds to the very schedule of the congress. Volume one contains the opening lecture by Andrzej K. Wróblewski as well as invited papers in sections of Proof Theory, Model Theory, Recursion Theory, Axiomatic Set Theory, Logic and Computation, Logic, Language and Cognition, Methodology, Probability, Induction, and Decision Theory, Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Computer Science, and Philosophy of the Physical Sciences.

Volume One of the 11th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Cracow, August 1999

In the Scope of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science

om tänkandets evolution

Hur Homo blev sapiens

This is the second of two volumes containing papers submitted by the invited speakers to the 11th international Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held in Cracow in 1999, under the auspices of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. The invited speakers are the leading researchers and accordingly the book presents the current state of the intellectual discourse in the respective fields.

Peter Gärdenfors

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