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Two versions of the extended mind thesis
Editors
Title / Series / Name
Philosophia
Publication Volume
40
Publication Issue
3
Pages
Authors
Editors
Keywords
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/10367
Abstract
According to the Extended Mind thesis, the mind extends beyond the skull or the skin: mental processes can constitutively include external devices, like a computer or a notebook. The Extended Mind thesis has drawn both support and criticism. However, most discussions – including those by its original defenders, Andy Clark and David Chalmers – fail to distinguish between two very different interpretations of this thesis. The first version claims that the physical basis of mental features can be located spatially outside the body. Once we accept that the mind depends on physical events to some extent, this thesis, though not obvious, is compatible with a large variety of views on the mind. The second version applies to standing states only, and has to do with how we conceive the nature of such states. This second version is much more interesting, because it points to a potential tension in our conception of minds or selves. However, without properly distinguishing between the two theses, the significance of the second is obscured by the comparative triviality of the first.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Heidelberg
Type
Journal article
Date
2012
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11406-011-9355-0