Human Language and Our Reptilian Brain: The Subcortical Bases of Speech, Syntax, and Thought
- ISBN-10
- 0674040228
- ISBN-13
- 9780674040229
- Category
- Science
- Pages
- 240
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2002-05-31
- Publisher
- Harvard University Press
- Author
- Philip Lieberman
Description
This book is an entry into the fierce current debate among psycholinguists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary theorists about the nature and origins of human language. A prominent neuroscientist here takes up the Darwinian case, using data seldom considered by psycholinguists and neurolinguists to argue that human language--though more sophisticated than all other forms of animal communication--is not a qualitatively different ability from all forms of animal communication, does not require a quantum evolutionary leap to explain it, and is not unified in a single language instinct. Using clinical evidence from speech-impaired patients, functional neuroimaging, and evolutionary biology to make his case, Philip Lieberman contends that human language is not a single separate module but a functional neurological system made up of many separate abilities. Language remains as it began, Lieberman argues: a device for coping with the world. But in a blow to human narcissism, he makes the case that this most remarkable human ability is a by-product of our remote reptilian ancestors' abilities to dodge hazards, seize opportunities, and live to see another day.
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Other editions
-
- 2002-05-31
- 241 pages
- Ebook
- Harvard University Press
-
- 2000
- 221 pages
- Paperback
- Harvard University Press
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