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Assignment 1 of Philosophy and Psychology year 2 - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
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Samenvatting Philosophy of mind, brain and behaviour - Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour (SOW-PSB2AS20E) -- Readings & Lectures
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P_BFILPSY philosophy full course summary
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Yvette BalataGroup 19
Tutor: Atul Suri
20/09/2020
Assignment 1 — Embodied Cognition and the Interaction
Theory
As early as 386 a.c the idea of an immaterial soul capable of outliving the mortal body is
presented in Plato’s Phaedo (Connolly, 2015). In the first half of the seventeenth century,
the concept of dualism between mind and body was further emphasized by René Descar-
tes with his idea of a rational substance. For centuries the studies on cognition have ex-
perienced the influence of this dualistic view. Similarly, many positions regarding the co-
gnitive processes related to how people interact with social information are still noticeably
imbued with cartesian’s dualism. This has inevitably led to a lack of interest in the role of
the body and, therefore, in the elaboration of social cognition which views this as simply
peripheral (Wilson & Foglia, 2015).
This essay will discuss how the account of Embodied Cognition deals with social cogni-
tion by emphasizing the importance of the body. Furthermore, empirical data in support of
the theory as well as possible objections against it are presented.
Embodied cognition focuses on the role and functions of the body as being a constituent
of cognition (Slors, de Bruin, & Strijbos, 2015). Moreover, it goes as far as claiming that
without the physical properties of an agent there would be no cognition and thus, that it is
fundamental to acknowledge that we are able to perceive and act upon those percep-
tions, including interacting with others, in that we have a body. Cognition, therefore, be-
comes embodied in the sense that it is dependent on an agent’s physical properties (Wil-
son & Foglia, 2015).
Similarly, a theory based on the Embodied Cognition movement, identifies social cogni-
tion as being the product of a direct and second-person perception that is accessible th-
rough embodied practices (Gallagher, 2009). The processes through which we under-
stand others are explained in terms of two basic levels: the “primary intersubjectivity”
which is concerned with the detection of basic perceptual cues such as vocal intonation,
facial expressions, and tracking eye-movement (Slors, de Bruin, & Strijbos, 2015), and the
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