Autore: Sykes, John J.
Titolo: Language and Bodily Space
Periodico: Sistemi intelligenti
Anno: 2025 - Fascicolo: 2 - Pagina iniziale: 195 - Pagina finale: 211

Advocates and adversaries of 4E cognitive science alike have argued that language has been underemphasised or even excluded from the 4E enterprise, along with other aspects of 'higher' cognition. But recent years have witnessed increasing attempts to narrow this lacuna. Here, I aim to contribute to these efforts by drawing attention to the case of 'bodily space', a notion treated as synonymous with the construct of peripersonal space (PPS), oft-defined as a multimodal representation of space around the body that facilitates interaction with the environment. While a superficial gloss might locate embodied spatiality and linguistic phenomena in discrete modules of the human mind, I argue that a deeper examination reveals their profound interconnection, enriching the study of both. To illustrate this, I examine and critically interpret a series of empirical studies in which language use was either utilised as a dependent variable to measure its modulation by PPS manipulations, or in which language itself is utilised to directly alter PPS. Finally, I briefly examine corresponding accounts from Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, to highlight the philosophical foundations of my position. The final analysis indicates that continued attempts to explore 'higher' and 'lower' cognition within a 4E framework shall likely prove fruitful.




SICI: 1120-9550(2025)2<195:LABS>2.0.ZU;2-C
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1422/117531
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1422/117531

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