[Ciclo de Conferências] Perceptual Content and Singular Thought

Title: The Iconic-Symbolic Spectrum

Abstract: It is widely accepted that representations can be divided into two large families. Symbolic representations include expressions of language, logical and mathematical symbols, and conventionalized gestures. Iconic representations include diagrams, maps, pictures, and depictive gestures. This distinction has become central to recent research in linguistics and cognitive science, but there is no widely accepted account of how to define it. In this talk, I propose a new way of understanding the contrast: iconic and symbolic representations differ, not in their format, but in the kinds of semantic rules which connect representations with content. I develop an account of the two kinds of rule through the lens of contemporary formal semantics.