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Updated: Sep 19, 2026

Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
First principles for any proposal of a generative grammar for complex sociality
Lotte Thomsen1,2, Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington3
1Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway lotte.thomsen@psykologi.uio.no lotte.thomsen@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Social coordination stems not simply from individual institutional "stances," but from an intersubjective, deeply phylo- and ontogenetically-rooted shared generative grammar of core relational forms, likely evolved for navigating critical socio-ecological (historically and contextually varying) structural dilemmas in adaptive ways. This relational grammar coordinates and regulates concrete social interactions and the way we see ourselves and others, relating to each other through it, as well as social institutions, giving meaning to human social life and society.
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