HPS4012H: Situated Cognition

Situated cognition is an umbrella term for several related views that have emerged over the last few decades including the embodied, embedded, extended and distributed views of the cognition. All of these views reject some core commitments of traditional cognitive science. This seminar will begin by introducing the traditional 'internalist' views of cognition that these new situated theories run up against, as well as clarifying some important terminology, such as what we mean when we speak of 'extension,' 'mental representation,' 'mindedness' or 'cognition.' The rest of the seminar will explore the philosophical arguments for and against situated cognition, with a particular focus on the embodied and extended theories.

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