Exam (elaborations)

Introduction to The Embodied Mind 2nd Edition Eleanor Rosch

8 views 0 purchase

Course
Embodied Mind

Institution
Embodied Mind

Introduction to The Embodied Mind 2nd Edition Eleanor Rosch Introduction to The Embodied Mind 2nd Edition Eleanor Rosch much that Buddhism and contemplative practices in other traditions could contribute to science, not to mention human life (some might say the heart of what they have to contri...

[Show more]

Preview 4 out of 32 pages

View example

Uploaded on August 26, 2024
Number of pages 32
Written in 2024/2025
Type Exam (elaborations)
Contains Questions & answers

introduction to the embodied mind 2nd edition elea

Institution Embodied Mind
Course Embodied Mind

CA$18.87

Added

Add to cart

Add to wishlist

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

1

In Varela, F., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive
Science and Human Experience (2nd ed.), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, in press.

Introduction to The Embodied Mind 2nd Edition

Eleanor Rosch

This book is about something real. For that reason it does not fit easily

into any of the usual academic disciplines. It is not science; it is not

philosophy; it is not phenomenology, and it is certainly not Buddhism,

although it touches on all of these. Nevertheless, for twenty plus years the

book has served as a provocateur for academic and nonacademic readers

alike. During that time, the issues with which it deals, such as relations

between the sciences of mind and human personal experience (your personal

experience), have become more prominent and culturally visible, but by no

means resolved.

A bit of history: I confess that working on The Embodied Mind with the

late Francisco Varela sometimes felt to me like entering an Indonesian

shadow-puppet play. A center-piece of these plays is a sequence in which the

protagonists cross into “the forest,” a charmed space where it becomes

possible for beings from different orders of reality – humans, gods, clowns,

heroes, demons – to meet and interact, thereby propelling the drama on its

way. In a somewhat analogous fashion, the aim of The Embodied Mind was to

create an open space in which normally separated aspects of human

knowledge represented by different modes of discourse and different

academic disciplines could meet, speak, and perhaps cross-fertilize one

, 2

another. We were particularly concerned with the gulf between the human

mind as studied by science and the mind as personally experienced—now

often spoken of as the disconnect between first person and third person

knowledge. To approach this disconnect we juxtaposed three disciplines

usually considered worlds apart: the new interdisciplinary science of the

mind called cognitive science, the phenomenological tradition in philosophy,

and some aspects of the Eastern religion of Buddhism. Through the interplay

of these three voices we emerged with the outline of a new kind of cognitive

science called enaction that we argued would provide the ground for a

science both embodied and experientially relevant.

Now, twenty-five years later, much has changed in the cultural and

intellectual environment in which ordinary people live and in which research

on body and mind is performed, changes that make The Embodied Mind even

more relevant and probably more accessible than when first published.

1) This is the era of body, particularly of the brain. New techniques

such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and an enhanced

electroencephalogram (EEG) have made it possible to observe changes in

blood flow and electrical activity in the brain in real time, thus providing a

window into the relation between thoughts, emotions, and brain activity.

Increasingly the prevailing assumption in psychology, cognitive science and

many other fields is that the mind (and hence experience) is just the brain

and that the gold standard for studying anything human is to observe

changes in the brain. Note our new vocabulary: not only is there

, 3

neuroscience but also neuro-economics, neuro-ethics… even neuro-theology.

But body is not necessarily the same as embodied; what is that body that is

under scrutiny?

2) This is also the era of personal technology. Hence it is not

surprising that the brain (and thus the mind with its experiences) is

increasingly assumed to work like a computer, i.e. for all its subtlety to be a

machine, just as is a computer, that should be studied accordingly. A personal

side of this technological change may be the overriding of much self-

awareness. Where once there were spaces in the day between events to

digest information, reflect on occurrences, notice one’s reactions, and be with

one’s thoughts and emotions, now there is only time to whip out the cell

phone.

These first two trends have to do with the objectification of science

and the externalization of our lives; they provide the background from which

the quest of this book and our concept of enaction stand out as contrast. The

next three, more local in scope but potentially of great generative

importance, are efforts toward reclaiming the mind.

3) Interest in phenomenology is growing, particularly in Europe and

Latin America. In strict usage, phenomenology refers to work stemming from

the school of philosophy originated by Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-

Ponty, but it is now also applied to research that looks into experience

through a variety of other methods. While phenomenology is the province of

my co-author Evan Thompson, I wish to make just one point about it here.

, 4

We began The Embodied Mind with a single phenomenological insight that

can turn objectivist science (and one’s world view) on its head if one allows it

to. Everything perceived, believed, theorized, researched, and known is done

so by an observer. The brain is seen, dissected, experimented on, believed to

be the cause of mental events…by the minds of scientists -- and likewise for

the other sciences. (This is what those circular diagrams in the first chapter

are trying to convey.) From that point of view, the brain is inside the mind

rather than vise verse. And it is from that point of view that phenomenology

throws down the gauntlet and challenges cognitive science, thus initiating,

though by no means closing, our conversation.

5) “Mindfulness” training derived from Buddhist practices has been

shown to have both physical and mental therapeutic effects, and use of it is

spreading exponentially. There is a corresponding outpouring of research on

mindfulness not only to confirm its clinical effectiveness but, as we might

expect, to relate it to the brain and to develop methods to define it, measure

it, and to understand it within the framework of our already existing

mechanistic science. Such work has been anointed with names such as

contemplative clinical science and contemplative neuroscience, and one can

only hope that this will be a case of “If you build it (here “if you name it”) they

will come.” One positive result is that Buddhism and the large family of

concepts being called “mindfulness” are no longer treated as visits from an

extra-terrestrial as they were twenty five years ago; both are now -- however

poorly understood -- on the cultural and scientific radar. On the other hand,

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller supergrades1. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for CA$18.87. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

77254 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling