64,226 research outputs found
The Backside of Habit: Notes on Embodied Agency and the Functional Opacity of the Medium
In this chapter what I call the âbacksideâ of habit is explored. I am interested in the philosophical implications of the physical and physiological processes that mediate, and which allow for what comes to appear as almost magic; namely the various sensorimotor associations and integrations that allows us to replay our past experiences, and to in a certain sense perceive potential futures, and to act and bring about anticipated outcomes â without quite knowing how. Thus, the term âbacksideâ is meant to refer both the actual mediation and the epistemic opacity of these backstage intermediaries that allow for the front stage magic. The question is if the epistemic complexities around sensorimotor mediation gives us valuable insights into the nature of human agency and further how it might begin to show us new ways to think of the mind as truly embodied yet not reducible to any finite body-as-object
The implications of embodiment for behavior and cognition: animal and robotic case studies
In this paper, we will argue that if we want to understand the function of
the brain (or the control in the case of robots), we must understand how the
brain is embedded into the physical system, and how the organism interacts with
the real world. While embodiment has often been used in its trivial meaning,
i.e. 'intelligence requires a body', the concept has deeper and more important
implications, concerned with the relation between physical and information
(neural, control) processes. A number of case studies are presented to
illustrate the concept. These involve animals and robots and are concentrated
around locomotion, grasping, and visual perception. A theoretical scheme that
can be used to embed the diverse case studies will be presented. Finally, we
will establish a link between the low-level sensory-motor processes and
cognition. We will present an embodied view on categorization, and propose the
concepts of 'body schema' and 'forward models' as a natural extension of the
embodied approach toward first representations.Comment: Book chapter in W. Tschacher & C. Bergomi, ed., 'The Implications of
Embodiment: Cognition and Communication', Exeter: Imprint Academic, pp. 31-5
Enactivism, other minds, and mental disorders
Although enactive approaches to cognition vary in terms of their character and scope, all endorse several core claims. The first is that cognition is tied to action. The second is that cognition is composed of more than just in-the-head processes; cognitive activities are externalized via features of our embodiment and in our ecological dealings with the people and things around us. I appeal to these two enactive claims to consider a view called âdirect social perceptionâ : the idea that we can sometimes perceive features of other minds directly in the character of their embodiment and environmental interactions. I argue that if DSP is true, we can probably also perceive certain features of mental disorders as well. I draw upon the developmental psychologist Daniel Sternâs notion of âforms of vitalityââlargely overlooked in these debatesâto develop this idea, and I use autism as a case study. I argue further that an enactive approach to DSP can clarify some ways we play a regulative role in shaping the temporal and phenomenal character of the disorder in question, and it may therefore have practical significance for both the clinical and therapeutic encounter
The Body Social: An Enactive Approach to the Self
This paper takes a new look at an old question: what is the human self? It offers a proposal
for theorizing the self from an enactive perspective as an autonomous system that is
constituted through interpersonal relations. It addresses a prevalent issue in the philosophy
of cognitive science: the body-social problem. Embodied and social approaches to cognitive
identity are in mutual tension. On the one hand, embodied cognitive science risks a new
form of methodological individualism, implying a dichotomy not between the outside world
of objects and the brain-bound individual but rather between body-bound individuals and
the outside social world. On the other hand, approaches that emphasize the constitutive
relevance of social interaction processes for cognitive identity run the risk of losing the
individual in the interaction dynamics and of downplaying the role of embodiment. This
paper adopts a middle way and outlines an enactive approach to individuation that is
neither individualistic nor disembodied but integrates both approaches. Elaborating on
Jonasâ notion of needful freedom it outlines an enactive proposal to understanding the
self as co-generated in interactions and relations with others. I argue that the human self is
a social existence that is organized in terms of a back and forth between social distinction
and participation processes. On this view, the body, rather than being identical with the
social self, becomes its mediator
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Demarcations
In this paper we present a set of key demarcations, particularly important
when discussing ethical and societal issues of current AI research and
applications. Properly distinguishing issues and concerns related to Artificial
General Intelligence and weak AI, between symbolic and connectionist AI, AI
methods, data and applications are prerequisites for an informed debate. Such
demarcations would not only facilitate much-needed discussions on ethics on
current AI technologies and research. In addition sufficiently establishing
such demarcations would also enhance knowledge-sharing and support rigor in
interdisciplinary research between technical and social sciences.Comment: Proceedings of the Norwegian AI Symposium 2019 (NAIS 2019),
Trondheim, Norwa
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