On (not) defining cognition
pp. 4233-4249
Résumé
Should cognitive scientists be any more embarrassed about their lack of a discipline-fixing definition of cognition than biologists are about their inability to define “life”? My answer is “no”. Philosophers seeking a unique “mark of the cognitive” or less onerous but nevertheless categorical characterizations of cognition are working at a level of analysis upon which hangs nothing that either cognitive scientists or philosophers of cognitive science should care about. In contrast, I advocate a pluralistic stance towards uses of the term ‘cognition’ that eschews the urge to treat cognition as a metaphysically well-defined “natural” kind.
Détails de la publication
Publié dans:
Buckner Cameron, Fridland Ellen (2017) Cognition. Synthese 194 (11).
Pages: 4233-4249
DOI: 10.1007/s11229-017-1454-4
Citation complète:
Allen Colin, 2017, On (not) defining cognition. Synthese 194 (11), Cognition, 4233-4249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1454-4.