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Abstract:
Experimental pragmatics asks how people construct contextualized
meaning in communication. So what does it mean for this field to add neuroas
a prefix to its name? After analyzing the options for any subfield of cognitive
science, I argue that neuropragmatics can and occasionally should go
beyond the instrumental use of EEG or fMRI and beyond mapping classic
theoretical distinctions onto Brodmann areas. In particular, if experimental
pragmatics ‘goes neuro’, it should take into account that the brain evolved
as a control system that helps its bearer negotiate a highly complex, rapidly
changing and often not so friendly environment. In this context, the ability
to predict current unknowns, and to rapidly tell good from bad, are essential
ingredients of processing. Using insights from non-linguistic areas of cognitive
neuroscience as well as from EEG research on utterance comprehension, I
argue that for a balanced development of experimental pragmatics, these two
characteristics of the brain cannot be ignored.
