<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>There is today much interest in research of neuronal substrata in metaphor processing. It has been suggested that the right hemisphere yields a key role in the comprehension of figurative language (non-literal) and, particularly, in metaphors. Figurative language is included in pragmatics, a branch of linguistics that researches the use of language, in opposition to the study of the system of language. There lingers, though, an open debate in respect to the identification of the specific aspects concerning semantics, as opposed to those dominated by pragmatics. Can studies from neuronal correlates clarify questions that relate to semantics/pragmatics representation? I shall analyze neuroscientific developments about implicit language to attempt to understand, in section 2, scientific techniques available and more suitable to the phenomenology of the act of understanding an implicit, figurative or implicated message in a certain language game. To do so, I shall start by reviewing the studies in philosophy of language, and accommodate the development of the research in pragmatics underlying metaphor, particularly, in <italic>Philosophical Investigations</italic> by Wittgenstein. Finally, I discuss the possibility of interpretative capabilities being socioculturally grounded. I expect this methodological analysis to contribute to the enlightenment of the problem of phenomenology of intersubjective pragmatics, and to its future experimental paradigms.</p></abstract>

There is today much interest in research of neuronal substrata in metaphor processing. It has been suggested that the right hemisphere yields a key role in the comprehension of figurative language (non-literal) and, particularly, in metaphors. Figurative language is included in pragmatics, a branch of linguistics that researches the use of language, in opposition to the study of the system of language. There lingers, though, an open debate in respect to the identification of the specific aspects concerning semantics, as opposed to those dominated by pragmatics. Can studies from neuronal correlates clarify questions that relate to semantics/pragmatics representation? I shall analyze neuroscientific developments about implicit language to attempt to understand, in section 2, scientific techniques available and more suitable to the phenomenology of the act of understanding an implicit, figurative or implicated message in a certain language game. To do so, I shall start by reviewing the studies in philosophy of language, and accommodate the development of the research in pragmatics underlying metaphor, particularly, in Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein. Finally, I discuss the possibility of interpretative capabilities being socioculturally grounded. I expect this methodological analysis to contribute to the enlightenment of the problem of phenomenology of intersubjective pragmatics, and to its future experimental paradigms.

Anatomia da Linguagem: Podemos Compreender Jogos de Linguagem a Partir de Redes Corticais?

University International Postgraduate Award School of Humanities and Social Inquiry Faculty of Law, Humanities, and the Arts University of Wollongong

Kairos. Journal of Philosophy & Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

There is today much interest in research of neuronal substrata in metaphor processing. It has been suggested that the right hemisphere yields a key role in the...

Anatomia da Linguagem: Podemos Compreender Jogos de Linguagem a Partir de Redes Corticais?

Published Online: Jun 06, 2017

Page range: 84 - 109

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/kjps-2017-0004

Keywords
pragmatics, figurative language, metaphor, language games, neuronal correlates, neuroimage

© 2017 Inês Hipólito, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Anatomia da Linguagem: Podemos Compreender Jogos de Linguagem a Partir de Redes Corticais?

Published Online: Jun 06, 2017

Page range: 84 - 109

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/kjps-2017-0004

Keywordspragmatics, figurative language, metaphor, language games, neuronal correlates, neuroimage

© 2017 Inês Hipólito, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
pragmatics, figurative language, metaphor, language games, neuronal correlates, neuroimage