Similarity Lang Thought & Perceptio

C. Cacciari, Preface, G.W. Humphreys and M.J. Riddoch, The old town no longer looks the same: Computation of visual similarity after brain damage, M. Kubovy, Symmetry and similarity: The phonomenology of decorative patterns, S. Glucksberg and D. Manfredi, Metaphoric comparisons, D.L. Medin and R.L. Goldstone, The predicates of similarity, D. Gentner and A.B. Markman, Similarity is like analogy: Structural alignment in comparison, R. Simone, The search for similarity in the linguist’s cognition. The chapters collected in this volume are based on the papers presented at the workshop Similarity in Language, Thought and Perception held in 1991 at the International Center for Semiotic and Cognitive Studies of San Marino. A vast number of linguistic expressions serve the purpose of expressing similarity (e.g. seems, is like, is similar to, etc.). Of course similarity’s role extends well beyond language. As many of the chapters collected in this volume show, it is intertwined with reasoning, categorization processes, visual processes, attention and so forth. The main questions addressed by the chapters are: How is visual similarity computed by the brain and what are the mechanisms responsible for it? How is similarity mentally represented? What is the relationship between literal and figurative similarity? Similarity as an epistemological tool. The chapters collected here address the complexity of a topic such as similarity mainly from a cognitive viewpoint. This is of course only one perspective, albeit a promising and new one with respect to a topic that has been fascinating scholars and artists for centuries.