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From Molecule to Metaphor: A Neural Theory of Language (Bradford Books)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 153
EAN: 9780262562355
ISBN: 0262562359
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: March 31, 2008
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
In From Molecule to Metaphor, Jerome Feldman proposes a theory of language and thought that treats language not as an abstract symbol system but as a human biological ability that can be studied as a function of the brain, as vision and motor control are studied. This theory, he writes, is a "bridging theory" that works from extensive knowledge at two ends of a causal chain to explicate the links between. Although the cognitive sciences are revealing much about how our brains produce language and thought, we do not yet know exactly how words are understood or have any methodology for finding out. Feldman develops his theory in computer simulations--formal models that suggest ways that language and thought may be realized in the brain. Combining key findings and theories from biology, computer science, linguistics, and psychology, Feldman synthesizes a theory by exhibiting programs that demonstrate the required behavior while remaining consistent with the findings from all disciplines.
After presenting the essential results on language, learning, neural computation, the biology of neurons and neural circuits, and the mind/brain, Feldman introduces specific demonstrations and formal models of such topics as how children learn their first words, words for abstract and metaphorical concepts, understanding stories, and grammar (including "hot-button" issues surrounding the innateness of human grammar). With this accessible, comprehensive book Feldman offers readers who want to understand how our brains create thought and language a theory of language that is intuitively plausible and also consistent with existing scientific data at all levels.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - cognitive linguistics
This is a fascinating book which encourages independent thought and inquiry into what we make assumptions about. I bought this book expecting it to be more academic than it was (neurologically). However I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to read and would recommend it to anyone interested in language
Rating:  - A Key Stone to reorient AI/Natural language understanding
Feldman's book "From Molecule to Metaphor" presents a new theory to understand natural languages. The new theory grounds solidly on research findings in neurology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive linguistics; it argues convincingly that mental activities are active neural connections and that basic language learning and understanding are embodied and that abstract concepts can be acquired through embodied concepts and metaphor. The theory reorients the research approach in AI/natural language ... Read More
Rating: - Remarkable, but perhaps too ambitious
This is a remarkable book, albeit possibly too ambitious. Feldman has little use for Chomsky's theory of language (but admires his analysis of language structures). By analogy, he shows the same kinds of arguments could be used to show the ability to dance is genetic, and embodied in its own dedicated brain structure, as to say language is. What Feldman is about, though, is not to engage in polemics, but to attempt to develop a theory of language which draws on current knowledge and perspectives ... Read More
Rating: - How do we learn, use and construct language?
Jerome Feldman wrote a nice book on the question of how language came to be. It is readable for outsiders (and has some little jokes that make you smile once in a while). By taking you step to step to the concept of a neural theory of language the book can be read chapter by chapter. For me, the theory it develops looks quite satisfactory. Noam Chomsky is one of the guys I would like to comment on this book, maybe sometime in the future he does. Buy this book if you want to know how we construct and ... Read More
Rating:  - Wordy, convoluted, unsatisfying
I read this book immediately after reading Hawkins' _On Intelligence_. Whereas OI was written in very layman's language, FMTMANTOL was written in a very academic style. Its style seemed to contradict the content. On the one hand, it gave some very simplified and hand-waving view of molecules, but went over the same simple points again and again in too much detail. Specifically, the author seemed fascinated with metaphor. Obviously that's the title of the book, but it seemed rather than just explaining ... Read More
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