Radically Enactive High Cognition

In this paper, I advance the radical enactivist program by developing Hutto & Satne’s (2015) and Hutto & Myin’s (2017) idea that contentful cognition emerges through sociocultural activities, which require a contentless form of intentionality. Radical enactivists then face two relate...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Rolla, Giovanni
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPEL)
Repositorio:Dissertatio - Revista de Filosofia (Online)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.ufpel:article/12390
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.ufpel.edu.br/index.php/dissertatio/article/view/12390
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Radical enactivism
embodied cognition
reflection
autopoietic enactivism
social systems.
Enativismo Radical
Cognição Corporificada
Enativismo Autopoiético
Sistemas Sociais.
Descripción
Sumario:In this paper, I advance the radical enactivist program by developing Hutto & Satne’s (2015) and Hutto & Myin’s (2017) idea that contentful cognition emerges through sociocultural activities, which require a contentless form of intentionality. Radical enactivists then face two related challenges: (a) how could we explain the characteristic procedures of higher cognition – such as being able to reflect upon one’s own cognitive performances? And (b) what is the function of higher cognitive skills, given the empirical findings that engaging in higher-cognitive activities does not imply cognitive amelioration (Kornblith, 2012)? I answer the first question by construing reflective activities as assessments of possibilities of engagement, whereas these possibilities are mandated by one’s own mental states. I answer the second question by arguing that higher cognition is an adaptive tool of the social systems we are embedded in, therefore, it is not necessarily aimed at achieving better cognitive states.