Keyword: cognition

1. Introduction Here, we present the free energy principle (FEP) in a simple manner to a broad audience. Alongside other cornerstones of mathematical physics—for instance, variational principles such as the principles of stationary action or the principle of maximum entropy—the FEP serves as the basis for a new class of mechanics or mechanical theories (in […]

This new paper advances the provocative thesis that we should revise the central dogma of molecular biology in the direction of a biology of cognition, based on a regime of self-reference that is operational already at the level of the cell. Paper available here. Abstract: Crick’s Central Dogma has been a foundational aspect of 20th […]

Issue 11 of Sponeaneous Generations the Journal of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. It includes essays by Ezequiel Di Paolo, Alan Love, Dan Brooks, Jan Baedke, Tobias Uller, Mathilde Tahar and others. All essays available open access here.

Published open access on BioSystems Abstract: Understanding how biological organisms are autonomous—maintain themselves far from equilibrium through their own activities—requires understanding how they regulate those activities. In multicellular animals, such control can be exercised either via endocrine signaling through the vasculature or via neurons. In C. elegans this control is exercised by a well-delineated relatively […]

We are glad to announce this workshop on the notion of organismal agency, which will take place in hybrid form at the University of the Aegean, Syros, Greece. Those who wish to attend the workshop online please contact Argyris Arnellos at arar@aegean.gr before the 3rd of July. Please be aware that times indicated below correspond […]

In my book, The Entangled Brain, I proposed that it is productive to view the brain and a complex, entangled system, one in which the parts dynamically assemble into coalitions that support complex cognitive–emotional behaviors (Pessoa, 2022a). An entangled system is a deeply context-dependent one in which the function of parts (such as a brain […]

Keynote speakers: Daniel Hutto (University of Wollogong), Inês Hipólito (HU Berlin), Antonio Bicchi (Italian Institute of Technology), S​teven M. LaValle (University if Oulu), Julian Kiverstein (University of Amsterdam). Organizers invite extended abstract of approximately 250-500 words (excluding references) on the following topics: For more information visit the event page.

Published Open Access in Minds and Machines Abstract: Enactivism advances an understanding of cognition rooted in the dynamic interac- tion between an embodied agent and their environment, whilst new mechanism sug- gests that cognition is explained by uncovering the organised components underlying cognitive capacities. On the face of it, the mechanistic model’s emphasis on localisable […]

From the Symbolic Species to Incomplete Nature Auguste Nahas  So it’s only in your first book, The Symbolic Species, that you came back to Peirce.  Terrence Deacon Yes. I was thinking about the evolutionary origins of human language. It was very clear to me that you just couldn’t talk about ‘pre-language’. Animals aren’t speaking in […]

31 January 2023: deadline for all submission formats https://site.pheedloop.com/event/ISHPSSB2023/home