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The four E's in 4E cognition stand for embodied, meaning that a brain is found in and, more than that, vitally interconnected with a larger physical/biological body; embedded, which refers to the limitations placed on the body by the external environment and laws of nature; extended, which argues that the mind is supplemented and even enhanced by the exterior world (e.g., writing, a calculator, etc.); and enactive, which is the argument that without dynamic processes, actions that require reactions, the mind would be ineffectual.[1][2] It could be argued that the four E's are compounding extensions of cognition or the mind, being part of a body that is, in turn, part of an environment which limits it but also allows for certain extensions, all of which require dynamic actions and reactions.[3]
History
[edit]Ideas of embodied cognition, or rather the idea that our physical bodies play a crucial role in our decision making, can be traced back as far as Plato's dialogues. It was, however, in the twentieth century that this debate began to resemble the current discussion, fueled by disagreements between cognitivists and behaviourists. Tensions within cognitivism, as well as the increasing popularity of neurobiology, led, on the one side, to a predominant focus on internal, cognitive processes while neglecting environmental factors, which in turn caused a push-back fuelling our modern understanding of embodied cognition. [1]
4E cognition was and is heavily influenced by phenomenology, but also by Marxist and feminist thinking, as well as queer-theory.[4] The field of 4E cognition is still rather fragmented in nature due to its four main components, which can not be neatly divided, causing conceptual questions of internal boundary concepts.[1] As a young field, it is held back both by its fragmented nature and a relative lack of critical evaluations.[4]
The four E's
[edit]To examine 4E cognition in general and its history more specifically, it is important to look at the main ideas that make up the 4E paradigm.
Embodiedness
[edit]Embodied cognition arguably presents the bridge between classical cognition/cognitive psychology and the other three E's. In the 17th century, Rene Descartes argued that the mind (as a product of the soul) is entirely separable from the body.[5] This is known as Cartesian Dualism, which introduces the strict divide between the realm of the mind and the body.[5] This question of the mind-body dualism, and more specifically, slow attempts at unifying the two can be found in the Lebenskraft-Debate, originating from the German tradition from around the mid 1700's.[6]
As previously mentioned, phenomenology had a strong impact on 4E cognition, mostly via its impact on what is known as the 'embodiment thesis', which was heavily inspired by figures like Martin Heidegger (1889-1986) and Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1962), both of whom were phenomenologists.[7]
Conceptual Differences from Cognitive Psychology
[edit]According to the traditional teachings of cognitive psychology, cognition is a type of information processing based on representational mental structures.[8] This idea, as the name suggests, was heavily influenced by computer science.[9] In this light, the brain is a kind of central processing unit that organises and directs all else.[10] The classical cognitivist view draws a strong boundary between 'the internal' and 'the external' where cognition is solely a subject of 'the internal' realm.[1]
The four E's, however, break down this boundary. Cognition can not reside solely within the confines of our heads if it is also embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended.[4]
- ^ a b c d Newen, Albert; Gallagher, Shaun; De Bruin, Leon (2018-09-13), Newen, Albert; De Bruin, Leon; Gallagher, Shaun (eds.), "4E Cognition: Historical Roots, Key Concepts, and Central Issues", The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition, Oxford University Press, p. 0, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198735410.013.1, ISBN 978-0-19-873541-0, retrieved 2025-04-01
- ^ Shapiro, Lawrence; Spaulding, Shannon (2024), Zalta, Edward N.; Nodelman, Uri (eds.), "Embodied Cognition", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2024 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2025-04-01
- ^ "Edizioni Ca' Foscari". edizionicafoscari.unive.it. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
- ^ a b c Carney, James (2020-12-01). "Thinking avant la lettre: A Review of 4E Cognition". Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. 4 (1): 77–90. doi:10.26613/esic.4.1.172. ISSN 2472-9876.
- ^ a b Descartes, René (1996). Cottingham, John (ed.). Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies. Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ McCarthy, John A. (2016-01-12), "The Early History of Embodied Cognition 1740-1920: The Lebenskraft-Debate and Radical Reality in German Science, Music, and Literature", The Early History of Embodied Cognition 1740-1920, Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-30903-6, retrieved 2025-04-03
- ^ Aho, Kevin A. (2005-06-01). "The Missing Dialogue between Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty: On the Importance of the Zollikon Seminars". Body & Society. 11 (2): 1–23. doi:10.1177/1357034X05052459. ISSN 1357-034X.
- ^ Walter, Sven; Kyselo, Miriam (2009-09-01). "Fred Adams, Ken Aizawa: The Bounds of Cognition". Erkenntnis. 71 (2): 277–281. doi:10.1007/s10670-009-9161-2. ISSN 1572-8420.
- ^ Simon, Herbert A. (1980-01-01). "Cognitive science: The newest science of the artificial". Cognitive Science. 4 (1): 33–46. doi:10.1016/S0364-0213(81)80003-1. ISSN 0364-0213.
- ^ Walter, Sven (2014-06-01). "Situated Cognition: A Field Guide to Some Open Conceptual and Ontological Issues". Review of Philosophy and Psychology. 5 (2): 241–263. doi:10.1007/s13164-013-0167-y. ISSN 1878-5166.