Enactivism is a position in cognitive science, with historical roots in Buddhist thought, phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, holding that cognition arises through interaction between an acting organism and its environment rather than through the organism passively receiving information that it then translates into internal representations. On this view, an organism's environment is enacted, or brought about, through the active exercise of that organism's own sensorimotor processes, so that a living being and its environment stand in a relationship of mutual specification rather than the being simply landing inside a pre-existing world. The term was introduced as enaction by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch in their 1991 book The Embodied Mind, and the position was initially built around sensorimotor skill before being extended to higher-level cognitive activity such as social interaction; it is closely related to situated cognition and embodied cognition and is presented as an alternative to cognitivism, computationalism and Cartesian dualism.
Facts
Core ClaimCognition arises through the dynamic interaction between an acting organism and its environment; a mind does not represent a pre-given world but enacts one through a history of sensorimotor action. 1 FAQs
Is enactivism one theory or several?
There are three strands: autopoietic enactivism; sensorimotor enactivism; and radical enactivism. All hold that cognition emerges from sensorimotor activity.
Enactivism is better described as a family of views than a single doctrine. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy names three strands. Autopoietic enactivism treats cognition in terms of the biodynamics of living systems. Sensorimotor enactivism focuses on perceptual experience and holds that perception consists in active exploration of the environment. Radical enactivism aims to replace representational explanations of cognition with embodied, interactive ones. The strands differ in their target explanations and methods, but they share the commitment that cognition emerges from sensorimotor activity.
How is enactivism related to embodied cognition?
Enactivism is one of the four Es of embodied cognition research. The labels are sometimes distinguished and sometimes used together.
Enactivism is one of several closely related research areas, sometimes called the four Es: embodied, embedded, enactive and extended cognition. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that embodied cognition is sometimes distinguished from the other three, yet it is not uncommon to use the label embodied to cover any or all of them. What they share is the view that the brain-centrism of traditional cognitive science, and its dependence on the computer for inspiration, stands in the way of a correct understanding of cognition.
Connections
Associated With
Enactivism's own entity-description states it is closely related to situated cognition and embodied cognition.
Enactivism's own entity-description states it is closely related to situated cognition and embodied cognition.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Enactivism
Wikimedia FoundationEnactivism, opening paragraph
Enactivism is a position in cognitive science that argues that cognition arises through interaction between an acting organism and its environment, with historical roots in Buddhism, phenomenology, and the cognitive sciences.
Enactivism, second paragraph, term-introduction sentence
The introduction of the term enaction in this context is attributed to Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch in The Embodied Mind (1991)
View the Source Enactivism (Wikipedia)
In Group: Embodied, Situated and Distributed Cognition Theories, LeadQuote, In Group: Embodied, Situated and Distributed Cognition Theories, Lead
Enactivism is a theory in cognitive science that argues that cognition arises through interaction between an acting organism and its environment, with historical roots in Buddhism, phenomenology, and the cognitive sciences.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.