Bodies and Other Objects
Bodies and Other Objects
Bodies and Other Objects is written for students, scholars and anyone with an interest in embodied cognition - the claim that the human mind cannot be understood without regard for the actions and capacities of the body. The impulse to write this book was a dissatisfaction with the inconsistent, and often shallow, use of the term 'embodied cognition'. This text attempts to reframe cognitive science with a unified theory of embodied cognition in which sensorimotor elements provide the basis for cognition, including symbolic exchanges that arise within a society of agents. It draws ideas and evidence from experimental psychology, neuroscience, philosophy and anthropology in reaching the conclusion that human cognition is best understood as the means by which exchanges within a constantly evolving network of skilful bodies and objects are regulated so as to further human interests.
- Proposes a unified theory of embodied cognition, drawing on several disciplines
- Shows a way of reframing some hard problems in cognitive science
- Has the potential to generate new research programmes
Reviews & endorsements
‘This great work, beautifully written, is a masterpiece that any scientist or layperson interested in what makes us human - brain, mind, sociality, culture - should read. The author integrates an embodied approach with a focus on the exchange of symbols in a material culture, setting the agenda for embodied cognitive (neuro)science in the future.' Anna Borghi, University of Bologna, Italy
‘Ellis skilfully navigates a plethora of research to formulate a way for symbolic accounts of the mind to incorporate recent advances in embodied cognition. By grounding a philosophical approach in empirical observations and scientific data, Bodies and Other Objects offers an exciting and revolutionary theory of mind.' Jonathan Silas, Middlesex University London
‘Timely, comprehensive, and provocative: a must-read for anybody interested in how the body shapes the mind.' Simone Schnall, University of Cambridge
Product details
September 2018Adobe eBook Reader
9781108580229
0 pages
2 b/w illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Reframing cognition
- 2. Vision and action
- 3. Tool use and tool incorporation
- 4. Agency, objects and others
- 5. Material cultures
- 6. Language
- 7. A synthesis: networks of human agents as physical symbol systems.
