The Pragmatic Turn: Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science

Experts from a range of disciplines assess the foundations and implications of a novel action-oriented view of cognition.

Cognitive science is experiencing a pragmatic turn away from the traditional representation-centered framework toward a view that focuses on understanding cognition as "enactive." This enactive view holds that cognition does not produce models of the world but rather subserves action as it is grounded in sensorimotor skills. In this volume, experts from cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, robotics, and philosophy of mind assess the foundations and implications of a novel action-oriented view of cognition.

Their contributions and supporting experimental evidence show that an enactive approach to cognitive science enables strong conceptual advances, and the chapters explore key concepts for this new model of cognition. The contributors discuss the implications of an enactive approach for cognitive development; action-oriented models of cognitive processing; action-oriented understandings of consciousness and experience; and the accompanying paradigm shifts in the fields of philosophy, brain science, robotics, and psychology.

Contributors
Moshe Bar, Lawrence W. Barsalov, Olaf Blanke, Jeannette Bohg, Martin V. Butz, Peter F. Dominey, Andreas K. Engel, Judith M. Ford, Karl J. Friston, Chris D. Frith, Shaun Gallagher, Antonia Hamilton, Tobias Heed, Cecilia Heyes, Elisabeth Hill, Matej Hoffmann, Jakob Hohwy, Bernhard Hommel, Atsushi Iriki, Pierre Jacob, Henrik J rntell, J rgen Jost, James Kilner, G nther Knoblich, Peter K nig, Danica Kragic, Miriam Kyselo, Alexander Maye, Marek McGann, Richard Menary, Thomas Metzinger, Ezequiel Morsella, Saskia Nagel, Kevin J. O''Regan, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Giovanni Pezzulo, Tony J. Prescott, Wolfgang Prinz, Friedemann Pulverm ller, Robert Rupert, Marti Sanchez-Fibla, Andrew Schwartz, Anil K. Seth, Vicky Southgate, Antonella Tramacere, John K. Tsotsos, Paul F. M. J. Verschure, Gabriella Vigliocco, Gottfried Vosgerau

Andreas K. Engel is Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Karl J. Friston is Wellcome Principal Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and a Professor at University College London.

Danica Kragic is Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

Andreas K. Engel is Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Karl J. Friston is Wellcome Principal Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and a Professor at University College London.

Danica Kragic is Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

Karl J. Friston is Wellcome Principal Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and a Professor at University College London.

Moshe Bar is Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University.

Karl J. Friston is Wellcome Principal Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and a Professor at University College London.

Thomas Metzinger is Professor of Philosophy and Fellow at the Gutenberg Research College at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Study in Frankfurt am Main. He is the editor of Neural Correlates of Consciousness and the author of Being No One, both published by the MIT Press.

John K. Tsotsos is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science, Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision at York University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC).

Andreas K. Engel is Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Thomas Metzinger is Professor of Philosophy and Fellow at the Gutenberg Research College at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Study in Frankfurt am Main. He is the editor of Neural Correlates of Consciousness and the author of Being No One, both published by the MIT Press.

Richard Menary is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Wollongong. He is the author of Cognitive Integration and other books.

Richard Menary is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Wollongong. He is the author of Cognitive Integration and other books.

Shaun Gallagher is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Central Florida and coeditor of the journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.

Wolfgang Prinz is Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science in Leipzig, and the author of Open Minds: The Social Making of Agencyand Intentionality (MIT Press, 2012).

Danica Kragic is Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

Andreas K. Engel is Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Shaun Gallagher is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Central Florida and coeditor of the journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.

Wolfgang Prinz is Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science in Leipzig, and the author of Open Minds: The Social Making of Agencyand Intentionality (MIT Press, 2012).