New Paper (2022): R. Beer, E. Di Paolo, The theoretical foundations of enaction: Precariousness

27 December 2022

New Paper (2022): R. Beer, E. Di Paolo, The theoretical foundations of enaction: Precariousness

Published in Biosystems Abstract: Enaction is an increasingly influential approach to cognition that grew out of Maturana and Varela’s earlier work on autopoiesis and the biology of cognition. As with any relatively new scientific discipline, the enactive approach would benefit greatly from a careful analysis of its theoretical foundations. Here we initiate such an analysis […]

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New Paper (2022), D. Harrison, W. Rorot, U. Laukaiyte, Mind the matter: Active matter, soft robotics, and the making of bio-inspired artificial intelligence

22 December 2022

New Paper (2022), D. Harrison, W. Rorot, U. Laukaiyte, Mind the matter: Active matter, soft robotics, and the making of bio-inspired artificial intelligence

Published open access in Frontiers in Neurorobotics Abstract: Philosophical and theoretical debates on the multiple realisability of the cognitive have historically influenced discussions of the possible systems capable of instantiating complex functions like memory, learning, goal-directedness, and decision-making. These debates have had the corollary of undermining, if not altogether neglecting, the materiality and corporeality of […]

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New Paper (2022), A. Gambarotto, M. Mossio, Enactivism and the Hegelian Stance on Intrinsic Purposiveness

8 December 2022

New Paper (2022), A. Gambarotto, M. Mossio, Enactivism and the Hegelian Stance on Intrinsic Purposiveness

Published open access in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences Abstract: We characterize Hegel’s stance on biological purposiveness as consisting in a twofold move, which conceives organisms as intrinsically purposive natural systems and focuses on their behavioral and cognitive abilities. We submit that a Hegelian stance is at play in enactivism, the branch of the contemporary […]

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New paper, R. Meyer, N. Brancazio (2022), Putting down the revolt: Enactivism as a philosophy of nature

1 December 2022

New paper, R. Meyer, N. Brancazio (2022), Putting down the revolt: Enactivism as a philosophy of nature

Published in Frontiers in Psychology Abstract: Enactivists frequently argue their account heralds a revolution in cognitive science: enactivism will unseat cognitivism as the dominant paradigm. We examine the lines of reasoning enactivists employ in stirring revolt, but show that none of these prove compelling reasons for cognitivism to be replaced by enactivism. First, we examine […]

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On hemianopsia, vision and adaptive reactions in organism’s pathological states

29 November 2022

On hemianopsia, vision and adaptive reactions in organism’s pathological states

In an unpublished manuscript datable to 1956-1957, La vision comme modèle de la connaissance[1] (Vision as a model of knowledge), the philosopher of medicine and biology Georges Canguilhem referred to specific biological-adaptive mechanisms compensating for some human vision anomalies, particularly hemianopic anomalies. In individuals in whom it tends to occur, hemianopsia (or hemianopia) involves the loss of one half of a […]

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New Paper (2022), S. Rubin, M. Crucifix, Taking the Gaia Hypothesis at Face Value

24 November 2022

New Paper (2022), S. Rubin, M. Crucifix, Taking the Gaia Hypothesis at Face Value

Published in Ecological Complexity Abstract: The interest in understanding the climate-life system that has fostered the Gaia hypothesis (GH) has resulted in multiple explanatory theories, making its status unclear and controversial. This work seeks to bring some clarity to the debates surrounding the GH with the aim to make it amenable to scientific scrutiny. We discuss what […]

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New paper: E. Di Paolo, E. Thompson, R. Beer (2022), Laying down a forking path: Tensions between enaction and the free energy principle

10 November 2022

New paper: E. Di Paolo, E. Thompson, R. Beer (2022), Laying down a forking path: Tensions between enaction and the free energy principle

Published open-access on Philosophy and the Mind Sciences Abstract: Several authors have made claims about the compatibility between the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and theories of autopoiesis and enaction. Many see these theories as natural partners or as making similar statements about the nature of biological and cognitive systems. We critically examine these claims and […]

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The Quest for Scientific Image of Mind

8 November 2022

The Quest for Scientific Image of Mind

The question of the place of mind in nature is one of the oldest and deepest questions in philosophy and the sciences. If the physical sciences to tell us ‘what nature is’, what happens to mental phenomena: thoughts, beliefs, desires, emotions, memories, and ideals? For centuries, philosophers, theologians, and scientists argued about what a “science […]

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Enaction and Dialectics – Part II

11 October 2022

Enaction and Dialectics – Part II

In the first part I have claimed that dialectical thinking is part and parcel of the enactive approach. I will now try to substantiate this claim. In the 1991 book The Embodied Mind, Varela, Thompson, and Rosch draw on developmental and evolutionary biology to prepare the reader for the idea of embodied action as a […]

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Enaction and Dialectics – Part I

6 October 2022

Enaction and Dialectics – Part I

The enactive approach is a rich perspective on the big questions of life and mind originating in the work of Francisco Varela and colleagues. [1] It is a perspective in continuous development, which makes it difficult to condense in a brief text. Enaction is a way of looking at life and mind as continuous. This […]

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