Many researchers working in Embodied Cognitive Science (ECS) are unaware that the philosophical approach known as Phenomenology has made important contributions to their field. In their new book Phenomenology: An Introduction philosophers Stephan Käufer and Anthony Chemero make a convincing case, not just for the historical importance of phenomenology, but more importantly, for its ongoing contributions to cognitive science.

In BSP 123 I talk with Anthony Chemero about phenomenology and its contributions to embodied cognitive science. We start with a brief discussion of what it is and we discuss  a few important historical figures, including Maurice Merleau-Ponty and James Gibson.  Then we consider how these ideas are important to contemporary psychology and cognitive science. I have included a list of related episodes below, but no previous knowledge is needed to enjoy this conversation.

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References

• Phenomenology: an Introduction by Stephan Käufer and Anthony Chemero

• Radical Embodied Cognitive Science by Anthony Chemero

• Embodied Cognition by Lawrence Shapiro (BSP 73)

• Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind by Evan Thompson (BSP 89)

• Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning by Benjamin K. Bergen (BSP 94)

• For more references please check out the free episode transcript.

Brain Science episodes

• BSP 25: Rolf Pfeifer discussed embodied intelligence in robotics

• BSP 36: Psychologist Art Glenberg introduced us to Gibson's affordances

• BSP 58: Philosopher Alva Noë discussed Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness.

• BSP 73: Embodied Cognition with Lawrence Shapiro

• BSP 89: Evan Thompson talked about Phenomenology and how it inspires the Enactive approach to embodied cognition

• BSP 94: (FREE) Benjamin Bergen (Louder than Words) discussed how embodied approaches are influencing contemporary psychology.

Announcements

• This episode was also be released as Books and Ideas #59. The content is the same.

• We will continue our discussion of embodied cognition in the next episode of Brain Science, which will be an interview with Dr. Michael Anderson, author of After Phrenology: Neural Reuse and the Interactive Brain.

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