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Being ostensive (reply to commentaries on “Expression unleashed”)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2023

Christophe Heintz Open the ORCID record for Christophe Heintz [Opens in a new window]  and
Thom Scott-Phillips Open the ORCID record for Thom Scott-Phillips [Opens in a new window]
Christophe Heintz
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Quellenstraße 51, 1100 Wien, Austria christophe.heintz@gmail.com http://christophe.heintz.free.fr/
Thom Scott-Phillips
Affiliation:
Institute for Logic, Cognition, Language & Information, Carlos Santamaria Zentroa 2, Plaza de Elhuyar, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain. thom.scottphillips@gmail.com https://thomscottphillips.com/
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Abstract

One of our main goals with “Expression unleashed” was to highlight the distinctive, ostensive nature of human communication, and the many roles that ostension can play in human behavior and society. The commentaries we received forced us to be more precise about several aspects of this thesis. At the same time, no commentary challenged the central idea that the manifest diversity of human expression is underpinned by a common cognitive unity. Our reply is organized around six issues: (1) languages and their cultural evolution; (2) the pervasiveness of expression in human behavior; (3) artificial intelligence and ostensive communication; (4) communication in other animals; (5) the ecology and evolution of ostensive communication; and (6) biolinguistics and pragmatics.

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Authors' Response
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e20
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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