338 research outputs found
Examining the Continuity between Life and Mind: Is There a Continuity between Autopoietic Intentionality and Representationality?
A weak version of the life-mind continuity thesis entails that every living system also has a basic mind (with a non-representational form of intentionality). The strong version entails that the same concepts that are sufficient to explain basic minds (with non-representational states) are also central to understanding non-basic minds (with representational states). We argue that recent work on the free energy principle supports the following claims with respect to the life-mind continuity thesis: (i) there is a strong continuity between life and mind; (ii) all living systems can be described as if they had representational states; (iii) the âas-if representationalityâ entailed by the free energy principle is central to understanding both basic forms of intentionality and intentionality in non-basic minds. In addition to this, we argue that the free energy principle also renders realism about computation and representation compatible with a strong life-mind continuity thesis (although the free energy principle does not entail computational and representational realism). In particular, we show how representationality proper can be grounded in âas-if representationalityâ
Probabilistic representations in perception: Are there any, and what would they be?
Nick Sheaâs Representation in Cognitive Science commits
him to representations in perceptual processing that are
about probabilities. This commentary concerns how to
adjudicate between this view and an alternative that locates
the probabilities rather in the representational statesâ
associated âattitudesâ. As background and motivation,
evidence for probabilistic representations in perceptual
processing is adduced, and it is shown how, on either
conception, one can address a specific challenge Ned Block
has raised to this evidence
Interactivist approach to representation in epigenetic agents
Interactivism is a vast and rather ambitious philosophical
and theoretical system originally developed by Mark
Bickhard, which covers plethora of aspects related to
mind and person. Within interactivism, an agent is
regarded as an action system: an autonomous, self-organizing,
self-maintaining entity, which can exercise
actions and sense their effects in the environment it
inhabits. In this paper, we will argue that it is especially
suited for treatment of the problem of representation in
epigenetic agents. More precisely, we will elaborate on
process-based ontology for representations, and will
sketch a way of discussing about architectures for
epigenetic agents in a general manner
Sexuality, Esoteric Energies, and the Subtleties of Transmutation Versus Transformation
Transpersonal perspectives on the meaningfulness of being human, and especially the significance of subtle energy teachings, necessitate a rethinking of the notion of sexuality, beyond definitions in terms of sex acts, biological endowments, or perhaps even the complex fantasia of desire. This redefining of the erotic dimension of human life leads both to appreciation of healing as inherently sexual and to understanding how the processes of transmutation by the forces of subtle energies profoundly differ from the transformations that representation of thoughts, feelings, and wishes may undergo. Cognitive access (including that of reflective selfconsciousness) to these forces is inevitably limited and necessarily distorted. In this context, it is suggested that the esoteric traditions of mystical sexuality, including the teachings of authentic tantric practice, be reconsidered and appreciated for their transpersonal dimension
Consciousness and Perceptual Attention: A Methodological Argument
Our perception of external features comprises, among others, functional and phenomenological levels. At the functional level, the perceiverâs mind processes external features according to its own causal- functional organization. At the phenomenological level, the perceiver has consciousness of external features. The question of this paper is: How do the functional and the phenomenological levels of perception relate to each other? The answer I propose is that functional states of specifically perceptual attention constitute the necessary basis for the arising of consciousness in a perceiver.
Widely studied within cognitive psychology, perceptual attention is still awaiting a thoroughgoing philosophical treatment. The paper presents and draws upon Anne Treismanâs feature-integration theory of attention (cf. A. Treisman & G. Gelade, âA Feature-Integration Theory of Attention,â Cognitive Psychology, 12, 1980. Pp. 97-136). According to this theory, attentional mechanisms are responsible for the binding of perceptual features into coherent and stable objects of perception. By itself, I will claim, the theory of feature integration does not allow a straightforward reduction of consciousness to the functional processing underlying it. However, on the basis of Treismanâs theory we can produce a methodological argument for endorsing the non-reductivist thesis that attentional states constitute the necessary basis for the arising of consciousness in a perceiver. The paper closes by presenting this argument, according to which the thesis is implied by a unified account of the common representational natures of attentional and conscious states
Scoring Goals for Brand Identity
This study aims to analyse the brand identity of sporting cities using existing sponsorship and city branding theory. A comparative case study was conducted between Melbourne, Australia (identified as the benchmark sporting city) and Malmö, Sweden (an emerging sporting city). Within the sponsorship realm, the theories of image transfer, corporate branding, congruence and sponsorship-linked marketing were used to analyse the sport brand identity of the cities. Furthermore, the Brand Box Model was used (and consequently adapted) and the notion of coherence and coordination within a city was utilized to assess sport brand identity of the case study cities. Support is provided for the theories of sponsorship-linked marketing and corporate branding, but only partial support congruence and image transfer in the sporting city context. Furthermore a city aiming to position itself as a âsporting cityâ should strive for a combination of representational and functional brand qualities and to do so, requires coherence and effective communication throughout its structure
Sexuality, Esoteric Energies, and the Subtleties of Transmutation Versus Transformation
Transpersonal perspectives on the meaningfulness of being human, and especially the significance of subtle energy teachings, necessitate a rethinking of the notion of sexuality, beyond definitions in terms of sex acts, biological endowments, or perhaps even the complex fantasia of desire. This redefining of the erotic dimension of human life leads both to appreciation of healing as inherently sexual and to understanding how the processes of transmutation by the forces of subtle energies profoundly differ from the transformations that representation of thoughts, feelings, and wishes may undergo. Cognitive access (including that of reflective selfconsciousness) to these forces is inevitably limited and necessarily distorted. In this context, it is suggested that the esoteric traditions of mystical sexuality, including the teachings of authentic tantric practice, be reconsidered and appreciated for their transpersonal dimension
The Work-Family Balance of British Working Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Purpose â
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected women in unique gender-specific ways, particularly their traditional status as home managers. This study draws on role theory to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on womenâs work-family balance during the lockdown.
Design/methodology/approach â
The current COVID-19 pandemic, which has altered the
ways in which we live and work, requires specific methodological tools to be understood. We therefore opted for a interpretive-constructivist and constructivist-phenomenologist approach. The dataset thus comprises of semi-structured interviews with twenty-six working women in the UK.
Findings â
The findings illustrate how the COVID-19 lockdown has intensified British womenâs domestic workload and has thus caused unbridled role conflict, which has further been exacerbated by structural and interactional roles undertaken by women especially during the lockdown. Remote working has contributed to womenâs role congestion and role conflict and poses severe challenges to role differentiation. Furthermore, we found that the lockdown
has facilitated the rediscovery of family values and closeness, which is connected to the decline in juvenile delinquency and low crime rate that has resulted from the lockdown.
Originality/value â
Through the lens of the role theory, this study concludes that the cohabitation of work and family duties within the domestic space undermines the ability to achieve work-family balance and role differentiation due to the occurrence of inter-role conflicts. This study enriches our understanding of the effect of remote working on female employeesâ work-family balance during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic lockdown
Dvostruki vid, fosfeni i paslike: neprihvaÄene reprezentacije umjesto reprezentacijskih kvalija
Pure representationalism or intentionalism for phenomenal experience is the theory that all introspectible qualitative aspects of a conscious experience can be analyzed as qualities that the experience non-conceptually represents the world to have. Some philosophers have argued that experiences such as afterimages, phosphenes and double vision are counterexamples to the representationalist theory, claiming that they are non-representational states or have non-representational aspects, and they are better explained in a qualia-theoretical framework. I argue that these states are fully representational states of a certain kind, which I call âautomatically non-endorsed representationsâ, experiential states the veridicality of which we are almost never committed to, and which do not trigger explicit belief or disbelief in the mind of the subject. By investigating descriptive accounts of afterimages by two qualia theorists, I speculate that the mistaken claims of some anti-representationalists might be rooted in confusing two senses of the term âseemingâ.Äisti reprezentacionalizam ili intencionalizam u pogledu pojavnog iskustva teorija je prema kojoj se svi introspektivno dostupni kvalitativni aspekti svjesnog iskustva mogu analizirati kao kvalitete svijeta koje iskustvo na nepojmovni naÄin reprezentira. Neki filozofi su argumentirali da iskustva poput paslika, fosfena i dvostrukog vida predstavljaju protuprimjer reprezentacionalistiÄkoj teoriji, tvrdeÄi da su to nereprezentacijska stanja ili da posjeduju nereprezentacijske aspekte, te da ih je bolje objasniti u okviru teorije kvalija. Argumentiram da su ova stanja u potpunosti reprezentacijska stanja odreÄene vrste koju nazivam âautomatski neprihvaÄenim reprezentacijamaâ. To su iskustvena stanja koja najÄeĆĄÄe ne prihvaÄamo kao istinita i koja ne aktiviraju eksplicitna vjerovanja u umu subjekta. Kroz istraĆŸivanje opisnih objaĆĄnjenja paslika koje nudi dvoje teoretiÄara kvalija, predlaĆŸem da je moguÄe da su pogreĆĄne tvrdnje nekih antireprezentacionalista ukorijenjene u mijeĆĄanju dvaju smisla rijeÄi ânaizgledâ
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