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The role of the brain in the metaphorical mathematical cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2008

George Lakoff
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-2650lakoff@berkeley.edu

Abstract

Rips et al. appear to discuss, and then dismiss with counterexamples, the brain-based theory of mathematical cognition given in Lakoff and Núñez (2000). Instead, they present another theory of their own that they correctly dismiss. Our theory is based on neural learning. Rips et al. misrepresent our theory as being directly about real-world experience and mappings directly from that experience.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

Feldman, J. (2006) From molecule to metaphor: A neural theory of language. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Lakoff, G. & Núñez, R. E. (2000) Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Narayanan, S. (1997) KARMA: Knowledge-based Action Representations for Metaphor and Aspect. Doctoral thesis, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar