Pragmatics at work: Looking through the lens of shared intentionality

Pragmatic processing has always been an interesting topic which could shed light on perhaps one of the most intriguing phenomena of human beings, that of communication. In my thesis, pragmatic processing will be examined through an ‘outsider’ lens, that of ‘shared intentionality’. The notion of ‘shared intentionality’ (or collective intentionality) has been developed and studied within the realm of philosophy of action (Chant et. al, 2014: 1). A joint act between two or more agents is upheld by an infrastructure of ‘shared intentionality’, which imposes mutual commitment, support, and obligation from all agents in pursuit of a common goal. Communication, viewed as a joint act (Clark, 1996), might surely be examined through the lens of ‘shared intentionality’. The central idea focuses on how ‘shared intentionality’, subserving as the psychological infrastructure, accounts for pragmatic processing in communicative acts. Within the course of pragmatic processing, I would propose and...Show morePragmatic processing has always been an interesting topic which could shed light on perhaps one of the most intriguing phenomena of human beings, that of communication. In my thesis, pragmatic processing will be examined through an ‘outsider’ lens, that of ‘shared intentionality’. The notion of ‘shared intentionality’ (or collective intentionality) has been developed and studied within the realm of philosophy of action (Chant et. al, 2014: 1). A joint act between two or more agents is upheld by an infrastructure of ‘shared intentionality’, which imposes mutual commitment, support, and obligation from all agents in pursuit of a common goal. Communication, viewed as a joint act (Clark, 1996), might surely be examined through the lens of ‘shared intentionality’. The central idea focuses on how ‘shared intentionality’, subserving as the psychological infrastructure, accounts for pragmatic processing in communicative acts. Within the course of pragmatic processing, I would propose and argue that shared intentionality works side by side with the main pragmatic theories in helping both interlocutors reach the ultimate shared goal of the joint communicative act: that of the hearer arriving at the intended meaning by the speaker.Show less

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Pragmatics at work: Looking through the lens of shared intentionality