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Unconscious representations II
towards an integrated cognitive architecture
pp. 19-43
Abstract
The representational nature of human cognition and thought in general has been a source of controversies. This is particularly so in the context of studies of unconscious cognition, in which representations tend to be ontologically and structurally segregated with regard to their conscious status. However, it appears evolutionarily and developmentally unwarranted to posit such segregations, as, otherwise, artifact structures and ontologies must be concocted to explain them from the viewpoint of the human cognitive architecture. Here, from a by-and-large Classical cognitivist viewpoint, I show why this segregation is wrong, and elaborate on the need to postulate an ontological and structural continuity between unconscious and conscious representations. Specifically, I hypothesize that this continuity is to be found in the symbolic-based interplay between the syntax and the semantics of thought, and I propose a model of human information processing characterized by the integration of syntactic and semantic representations.
Publication details
Published in:
(2014) Axiomathes 24 (1).
Pages: 19-43
Full citation:
Augusto Luis M. (2014) „Unconscious representations II: towards an integrated cognitive architecture“. Axiomathes 24 (1), 19–43.