The retreat from alienation in cognitive science

• Main Author: Loader, Paul
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Sussex 2013
• Subjects: BF0309 Consciousness. Cognition Including learning, attention, comprehension, memory, imagination, genius, intelligence, thought and thinking, psycholinguistics, mental fatigue; JA0071 Theory. Relation to other subjects

This thesis examines the relevance of Hegelian-Marxian theory to modern day philosophy of cognitive science. It is suggested that certain key Hegelian-Marxian ideas and themes, such as 'externalization', 'praxis' and 'dialectics', have parallels in modern day cognitive science and that, in some instances a direct connection can be traced from Marxian theory to recent cognitive science, via intermediaries such as Vygotsky, Merleau-Ponty and Levins & Lewontin. It is also suggested that the overarching trajectory of cognitive science is one that can be usefully understood in Marxian terms as a 'retreat from alienation.' Taking this as one's starting point enables one to unify otherwise disparate perspectives under a single banner. In addition it provides one with a means of evaluating individual accounts, such as Varela, Thompson and Rosch's 'Embodied Mind' and Clark and Chalmers' 'Extended Mind'. Conversely, some recent cognitive scientific accounts, such as Kirsh & Maglio's work on 'epistemic action', offer further illumination of ideas that are ambiguously expressed in Marxian theory.