Conceptual spaces as a framework for cognitive semantics

To appear in the proceedings of Second International Colloquium on Cognitive Science, Universidad del Pais Vasco, 1991

Abstract

I first give a sketch of a realist semantics in the form of standard intensional semantics, which is formulated in terms of possible worlds. I also mention some of the philosophical problems this kind of semantics leads to. Then I present some of the main tenets of what has become known as cognitive semantics. As an ontological framework for a cognitive semantics, I introduce the notion of a conceptual space and show how such spaces can be used as a basis for a cognitive semantics. In the final sections, it is argued that this kind of semantics is useful for understanding metaphors and prototype effects of concepts.

The paper is available in PostScript format (get).

To LUCS Home Page