Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Semiotics and cognition -- 1.1. Introduction -- 1.2. Critique of pure semiotics -- 1.3. Just how pure is pure semiotics? -- 1.4. Morris and Peirce on mentalism -- 1.5. Mentalism reconsidered -- 1.6. John Deely on signs and ideas -- 2. Cognition in the wake of the linguistic turn -- 2.1. Introduction -- 2.2. The linguistic turn -- 2.3. Antimentalism and formalism within the analytic tradition -- 2.4. Reasons for the cognitive shift -- 2.5. Problems with cognitivism: the language of thought and the formalist stance -- 2.6. The second phase of cognitivism -- 2.7. Connectionism and the multiplicity of mind -- 3. Beyond traditional mentalism -- 3.1. Introduction -- 3.2. General Principles of Cognitivism -- 3.3. Cognitivism and objections to traditional mentalism -- 3.4. The language of thought and computational theories of mind -- 4. Prelude to a cognitive theory of symbols -- 4.1. Introduction -- 4.2. Truth conditions, conventions, and cultural units -- 4.3. On symbols and indices -- 4.4. Symbols reconsidered -- 4.5. Conclusion -- 5. Steps towards a theory of representations -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Criteria for evaluating cognitive theories -- 5.3. Preliminaries for a theory of representations -- 5.5. Dretske's model of elementary behavior -- 6. Functional autonomy and the arbitrariness of symbols -- 6.1. Introduction -- 6.2. Perception and understanding -- 6.3. Functional autonomy -- 6.4. Functional autonomy and the relation of signification -- 6.5. Functional autonomy and cross-modal transfers -- 6.6. Functional autonomy and imagination -- 6.7. Functional autonomy and the evolution of symbolic communication -- 7. The development of symbolic communication in children -- 7.1. Introduction -- 7.2. Piaget's sensorimotor period and the child's first words -- 7.3. Intentions in young children.

7.4. The child's conceptual system -- 7.5. Pure performatives and functional autonomy -- 7.6. Cognition and social development -- 7.7. Conclusion -- Afterword -- Notes -- References -- Index of Names -- Subject Index.