The Emergence of Emergentism in Cognitive Science

This paper addresses, fundamentally, a single issue: assessing whether the currently very influent approach in cognitive sciences, i.e., Radical Embodied Cognitive Science (from now on, RECS), is committed to some version of emergentism. The structure of the paper is the following. In the first section I introduce the leading ideas of RECS. In the second section I compare certain standard formulations of emergentism with the main claims of RECS, trying to assess whether the latter involve some emergentist tenets. Some conclusions, in the third section, follow. My conclusion will be that, on the one hand, there are some substantive epistemological analogies between RECS and emergentism, but, on the other hand, the metaphysics of RECS is not of an emergentist kind, in spite of some shallow similarities. Therefore, depending on one’s taking emergentism as an epistemological rather than a metaphysical thesis, RECS will be considered as being committed to emergentism or not (as it happens, I take emergentism in its standard formulation essentially as a metaphysical thesis, so my answer to the question addressed in this paper is more negative).This paper addresses, fundamentally, a single issue: assessing whether the currently very influent approach in cognitive sciences, i.e., Radical Embodied Cognitive Science (from now on, RECS), is committed to some version of emergentism. The structure of the paper is the following. In the first section I introduce the leading ideas of RECS. In the second section I compare certain standard formulations of emergentism with the main claims of RECS, trying to assess whether the latter involve some emergentist tenets. Some conclusions, in the third section, follow. My conclusion will be that, on the one hand, there are some substantive epistemological analogies between RECS and emergentism, but, on the other hand, the metaphysics of RECS is not of an emergentist kind, in spite of some shallow similarities. Therefore, depending on one’s taking emergentism as an epistemological rather than a metaphysical thesis, RECS will be considered as being committed to emergentism or not (as it happens, I take emergentism in its standard formulation essentially as a metaphysical thesis, so my answer to the question addressed in this paper is more negative)

Emergence: A Proposal for a Foundational Revolution in Cognitive Science

Emergence has been a fundamental part of physics, chemistry, and biology since the turn of the century. The sub-disciplines of cognitive science have all adopted emergentist approaches in many areas within their field, yet cognitivescience as a whole lacks an overarching theory between the sub-disciplines. Therefore, I propose that emergence is avaluable conceptual tool for unifying the sub-disciplines of cognitive science, as it will facilitate communication via ashared emergentist framework. Although there are several definitions of emergence, cognitive science can benefit from anoverarching view that regardless of discipline, reductionistic approaches are unable to describe cognition from the macroto the micro without invoking emergent stages of explanation. The reluctance to adopt an emergent paradigm surroundsthe issue that emergent phenomena cannot be predicted from their component parts, which challenges the way experimentsin cognitive science are designed and conducted, and how cognition is modeled computationally

Networks in cognitive science

Networks of interconnected nodes have long played a key role in Cognitive Science, from artificial neural networks to spreading activation models of semantic memory. Recently, however, a new Network Science has been developed, providing insights into the emergence of global, system-scale properties in contexts as diverse as the Internet, metabolic reactions, and collaborations among scientists. Today, the inclusion of network theory into Cognitive Sciences, and the expansion of complex-systems science, promises to significantly change the way in which the organization and dynamics of cognitive and behavioral processes are understood. In this paper, we review recent contributions of network theory at different levels and domains within the Cognitive Sciences.Postprint (author's final draft

Grounding cognitive-level processes in behavior: the view from dynamic systems theory

Marr's seminal work laid out a program of research by specifying key questions for cognitive science at different levels of analysis. Because dynamic systems theory (DST) focuses on time and interdependence of components, DST research programs come to very different conclusions regarding the nature of cognitive change. We review a specific DST approach to cognitive-level processes: dynamic field theory (DFT). We review research applying DFT to several cognitive-level processes: object permanence, naming hierarchical categories, and inferring intent, that demonstrate the difference in understanding of behavior and cognition that results from a DST perspective. These point to a central challenge for cognitive science research as defined by Marr-emergence. We argue that appreciating emergence raises questions about the utility of computational-level analyses and opens the door to insights concerning the origin of novel forms of behavior and thought (e.g., a new chess strategy). We contend this is one of the most fundamental questions about cognition and behavior

Основні теоритичні та методологічні установки когнітивної лінгвістики (Principle theoretical and methodological directions of cognitive linguistics)

Статтю присвячено передумовам виникнення та особливостям формування когнітивної парадигми в мовоз навстві, базовим поняття когнітивної лінгвістики та найбільш актуальним проблемам сучасної когнітивної науки. (The article is devoted to a description of preconditions for the emergence and particularities of the formation of cognitive linguistics paradigm, it covers basic concepts of cognitive linguistics and the most important problems in modern cognitive science.

A brief introduction to the guidance theory of representation

Recent trends in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science can be fruitfully characterized as part of the ongoing attempt to come to grips with the very idea of homo sapiens--an intelligent, evolved, biological agent--and its signature contribution is the emergence of a philosophical anthropology which, contra Descartes and his thinking thing, instead puts doing at the center of human being. Applying this agency-oriented line of thinking to the problem of representation, this paper introduces the Guidance Theory, according to which the content and intentionality of representations can be accounted for in terms of the way they provide guidance for action. We offer a brief account of the motivation for the theory, and a formal characterization

Mind, Cognition, Semiosis: Ways to Cognitive Semiotics

What is meaning-making? How do new domains of meanings emerge in the course of child’s development? What is the role of consciousness in this process? What is the difference between making sense of pointing, pantomime and language utterances? Are great apes capable of meaning-making? What about dogs? Parrots? Can we, in any way, relate their functioning and behavior to a child’s? Are artificial systems capable of meaning-making? The above questions motivated the emergence of cognitive semiotics as a discipline devoted to theoretical and empirical studies of meaning-making processes. As a transdisciplinary approach to meaning and meaning-making, cognitive semiotics necessarily draws on a different disciplines: starting with philosophy of mind, via semiotics and linguistics, cognitive science(s), neuroanthropology, developmental and evolutionary psychology, comparative studies, and ending with robotics. The book presents extensively this discipline. It is a very eclectic story: highly abstract problems of philosophy of mind are discussed and, simultaneously, results of very specific experiments on picture recognition are presented. On the one hand, intentional acts involved in semiotic activity are elaborated; on the other, a computational system capable of a limited interpretation of excerpts from Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass is described. Specifically, the two roads to cognitive semiotics are explored in the book: phenomenological-enactive path developed by the so-called Lund school and author’s own proposal: a functional-cognitivist path

Origin and emergence of entrepreneurship as a research field

This paper seeks to map out the emergence and evolution of entrepreneurship as an independent field in the social science literature from the early 1990s to 2009. Our analysis indicates that entrepreneurship has grown steadily during the 1990s but has truly emerged as a legitimate academic discipline in the latter part of the 2000s. The field has been dominated by researchers from Anglo-Saxon countries over the past 20 years, with particularly strong representations from the US, UK, and Canada. The results from our structural analysis, which is based on a core document approach, point to five large knowledge clusters and further 16 sub-clusters. We characterize the clusters from their cognitive structure and assess the strength of the relationships between these clusters. In addition, a list of most cited articles is presented and discussed

A Study on the English Translation of the Three-Body Problems’ Terms from the Perspective of Cognitive Terminology

The emergence of the The Three-Body Problem series has reintroduced the marginalized literary genre into the critics’ field of view. The story background of the first part of The Three-Body Problem takes place during the Cultural Revolution. As a masterpiece of Chinese science fiction literature, the English translation of The Three-Body Problem has been studied actively, but the English translation of it is still relatively blank. Taking cognitive linguistics as an entry point, this paper attempts to describe how cognitive linguistics can guide translators to translate, in order to provide theoretical reference for the translation practice of science fiction works