La negazione e le teorie simulative della comprensione linguistica

Abstract

In this paper, I will focus on a theory about language comprehension, which has recently emerged in the research framework of Embodied Cognition. According to this theory, understanding a linguistic expression involves the unconscious recreation of previous experiences, using brain structures dedicated to perception and action. Therefore, understanding an utterance entails performing mental simulation of its content. We can call this the “simulation-theory of language comprehension”. One of the issues that emerges from the simulation-theory is the following: are concepts composed exclusively of sensory-motor representations, or do they instead contain amodal and propositional representations? Focusing on the specific case of negation and negative sentences, I will try to make some relevant observations in favour of a “dual” approach.