Froese & Di Paolo (2011) The Enactive Approach: theoretical sketches from the cell to society – Page 2

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The Enactive Approach: theoretical sketches from the cell to society

Froese & Di Paolo (2011) The Enactive Approach: theoretical sketches from the cell to society

Abstract

There is a small but growing community of researchers spanning a spectrum of disciplines which are united in rejecting the still dominant computationalist paradigm in favor of the enactive approach. The framework of this approach is centered on a core set of ideas, such as autonomy, sense-making, emergence, embodiment, and experience. These concepts are finding novel applications in a diverse range of areas. One hot topic has been the establishment of an enactive approach to social interaction. The main purpose of this paper is to serve as an advanced entry point into these recent developments. It accomplishes this task in a twofold manner: (i) it provides a succinct synthesis of the most important core ideas and arguments in the theoretical framework of the enactive approach, and (ii) it uses this synthesis to refine the current enactive approach to social interaction. A new operational definition of social interaction is proposed which not only emphasizes the cognitive agency of the individuals and the irreducibility of the interaction process itself, but also the need for jointly co-regulated action. It is suggested that this revised conception of ‘socio-cognitive interaction’ may provide the necessary middle ground from which to understand the confluence of biological and cultural values in personal action.

Concepts Adaptation, Agency, Autopoiesis, Cognition, Decentralized Self, Decentralized thinking, Social cognition, Social-ecological systems
Relevant learning goals Conceptual Thinking, Critical Thinking, Metacognitive Competency, Systems Thinking
Relevant subject areas Cognitive Science, Enactivism, Philosophy
Relevant research methods Conceptual clarification, Content analysis, Knowledge synthesis, Scientific clarification, Teaching materials development
Relevant projects Annotated Reading List, Decentralized Self, Understanding Agency
Relevant school improvement goals Conceptual pluralism, Conceptual understanding

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Zahavi, D. (2010). The Experiential Self: Objections and Clarifications. In Self, No Self? (pp. 56–78). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593804.003.0003

This chapter first outlines a view regarding the relationship between consciousness, self-consciousness, and a minimal notion of self that is widespread in the phenomenological tradition. It then discusses some of the motivations behind this proposal, and then in the main part of the chapter critically engages with various objections that have recently been raised against this view by Albahari and Dreyfus. Discussing these objections will allow for an important clarification of the view defended here. Also discussed are some of the semantic and metaphysical disagreements that separate defenders and deniers of self, concluding with some reflections regarding the relation between self and diachronic unity.

The Body Social: an enactive approach to the self

Kyselo, M. (2014). The body social: An enactive approach to the self. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00986

This paper takes a new look at an old question: what is the human self? It offers a proposal for theorizing the self from an enactive perspective as an autonomous system that is constituted through interpersonal relations. It addresses a prevalent issue in the philosophy of cognitive science: the body-social problem. Embodied and social approaches to cognitive identity are in mutual tension. On the one hand, embodied cognitive science risks a new form of methodological individualism, implying a dichotomy not between the outside world of objects and the brain-bound individual but rather between body-bound individuals and the outside social world. On the other hand, approaches that emphasize the constitutive relevance of social interaction processes for cognitive identity run the risk of losing the individual in the interaction dynamics and of downplaying the role of embodiment. This paper adopts a middle way and outlines an enactive approach to individuation that is neither individualistic nor disembodied but integrates both approaches. Elaborating on Jonas’ notion of needful freedom it outlines an enactive proposal to understanding the self as co-generated in interactions and relations with others. I argue that the human self is a social existence that is organized in terms of a back and forth between social distinction and participation processes. On this view, the body, rather than being identical with the social self, becomes its mediator.

The Self in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Zettle, R. D. (2016). The self in acceptance and commitment therapy. In M. Kyrios, R. Moulding, G. Doron, S. S. Bhar, M. Nedeljkovic, & M. Mikulincer (Eds.), The Self in Understanding and Treating Psychological Disorders (1st ed., pp. 50–58). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139941297.007

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Resnick, M. (1996). Beyond the Centralized Mindset. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 5(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls0501_1

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