Writing as thinking
In this paper I aim to show that the creation and manipulation of written vehicles is part of our cognitive processing and, therefore, that writing transforms our cognitive abilities. I do this from the perspective of cognitive integration: completing a complex cognitive, or mental, task is enabled...
| Published in: | Language Sciences Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 621 - 633 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier B.V.
Sep2007
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=26249186&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 26249186 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03880001 JM3 jtl: Language Sciences issn: 03880001 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2007 vid: 29 iid: 5 pid: 2410 pub: Elsevier B.V. artinfo: ui: 26249186 10.1016/j.langsci.2007.01.005 ppf: 621 ppct: 12 formats: tig: atl: Writing as thinking aug: au: Menary, Richard affil: Department of Philosophy, The University of Wollongong, New South Wales, 2515, Australia su: Cognitive analysis Written communication Cognitive processing of language Biolinguistics Brain function localization Social processes Integration (Theory of knowledge) Psychology sug: subj: Cognitive analysis Written communication Cognitive processing of language Biolinguistics Brain function localization Social processes Integration (Theory of knowledge) Psychology keyword: Cognitive integration Cognitive process Integrational linguistics Scripts Written vehicles ab: In this paper I aim to show that the creation and manipulation of written vehicles is part of our cognitive processing and, therefore, that writing transforms our cognitive abilities. I do this from the perspective of cognitive integration: completing a complex cognitive, or mental, task is enabled by a co-ordinated interaction between neural processes, bodily processes and manipulating written sentences. In section one I introduce Harris’ criticisms of ways in which writing has been said to restructure thought (Goody 1968; McLuhan 1962, 1964; Ong 1982). This will give us a preliminary idea about possible pitfalls for a cognitive integrationist account. The second section outlines, firstly, how integrated cognitive systems function. Secondly, the model is applied to a hybrid mental act where writing allows us to complete complex cognitive tasks. The final section outlines the sense in which, following Harris, there is “a more realistic picture of how writing restructures thought” [Harris, R., 1989. How does writing restructure thought? Language and Communication 9 (2/3) 99–106] that is concealed by the ‘romantic fantasies’ of theorists such as the above. This picture is one of writing providing an autoglottic space in which a new form of theoretical thinking becomes prevalent. The cognitive integrationist understands this in terms of the nature of the written vehicles and how we manipulate them. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2007 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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