This paper presents pretending as an enacted and fundamentally social activity. First, it demonstrates why we should think of pretense as inherently social. Then, it shows how that fact affects our theory in terms of what is needed in order to pretend. Standardly, pretense is seen as requiring a mechanism that allows one to bypass the “obvious” re- sponse to the environment in order to opt for a symbolic response; that mechanism is im- aginative and representational. This paper shows that (...) the Enactive Account of Pretense reconsiders the idea that one needs to respond to an absent environment when pretending, proposing instead that socially con- stituted perceptual affordances for play allow for non-obvious ways of responding to the present environment. The enactive account of pretense suggests that one need not posit special cognitive pretense mechanisms and mental scripts in order to account for pretend- ing, as available capacities for active perception and re-enactment of routines suffice. This paper concludes with suggestions for the kinds of cognitive skills that should be sought out to explain pretense. (shrink)

This paper considers the epistemic role that embodiment plays in imagining. We focus on two aspects of embodied cognition understood in its strong sense: explicit motoric processes related to performance, and neuronal processes rooted in bodily and action processes, and describe their role in imagining. The paper argues that these two aspects of strongly embodied cognition can play distinctive and positive roles in constraining imagining, thereby complementing Amy Kind's argument for the epistemic relevance of imagination "under constraints" and Magdalena Balcerak (...) Jackson's argument for justification by imagination. (shrink)

I sitt berömda bevis för tidens overklighet påstod McTaggart att det sätt händelser tycks skifta position i tiden från framtid till nutid och till förfluten tid, innebär en motsägelse. Vad McTaggart egentligen menade har varit föremål för en livlig debatt ända sedan beviset först publicerades 1908. Beviset består av två delar. I den första argumenterar McTaggart för att ingenting kan förändras förutom genom att övergå från framtid till förfluten tid. I den andra argumenterar han för att en sådan övergång innebär (...) en motsägelse och att det därför inte kan finnas någon förändring överhuvudtaget, vilket i sin tur innebär att det heller inte finns någon tid. De flesta filosofer är i dag eniga om att McTaggart har fel, men oeniga om på vilket sätt han har fel. Olika filosofer förkastar olika delar av beviset, beroende på om de har vad som kallas en A- eller B-uppfattning av tiden. De som har en A-uppfattning förnekar att tid förstådd som övergång från framtid till förfluten tid är motsägelsefull. De som har en B-uppfattning förnekar att en övergång från framtid till förfluten tid är nödvändig för förändring, men håller med om att sådan övergång är motsägelsefull. Det är min uppfattning att denna oenighet beror på att McTaggarts argument från första början blivit missuppfattat, av både A- och B-teoretiker. Av någon anledning har det alltid betraktats som ett självständigt argument, ett som är oberoende av det ontologiska system McTaggart förespråkade. Jag föreslår ett nytt sätt att förstå hur han menade att tiden är motsägelsefull. Ett sätt som tar hans ontologiska system som utgångspunkt. (shrink)

The human spindle and kinetochore associated complex is required for proper mitotic progression. Extensive studies have demonstrated its important functions in both stable kinetochore-microtubule interactions and spindle checkpoint silencing. We suggest a model to explain how various Ska functions might be fulfilled by distinct pools of Ska at kinetochores. The Ndc80-loop pool of Ska is recruited by the Ndc80 loop, or together with some of its flanking sequences, and the recruitment is also dependent on Cdk1-mediated Ska3 phosphorylation. This pool seems (...) to play a more important role in silencing the spindle checkpoint than stabilizing kinetochore-microtubule interactions. In contrast, the Ndc80-N-terminus pool of Ska is recruited by the N-terminal domains of Ndc80 and appears to be more important for stabilizing kinetochore-microtubule interactions. Here, we review and discuss the evidence that supports this model and suggest further experiments to test the functioning mechanisms of the Ska complex. The human spindle and kinetochore associated complex plays essential functions in proper mitotic progression by promoting stable kinetochore-microtubule interactions and spindle checkpoint silencing. We propose that “distinct pools” of Ska—the Ndc80-loop and Ndc80-N-terminus pools—might fulfill these various functions. (shrink)

This paper will explore one aspect of the relationship between pretence and narratives. I look at proposals about how scripts play guiding roles in our pretend play practices. I then examine the views that mental representations are needed to guide pretend play, reviewing two importantly different pictures of mental guiders: the Propositional Account and the Model Account. Both accounts are individualistic and internalistic; the former makes use of language-like representations, the latter makes use of models, maps and images. The paper (...) will discuss some worries with the notion of mental guiders, and offer some positive suggestions about what else might be playing the guiding role in pretence. I propose that environmental affordances and socially scaffolded engagements provide the basis of pretence guiders, and suggest that engagement in narrative practices further frames and allows elaborations of acts of pretend play. I take first steps in developing a new embodied, enactive and intersubjective understanding of pretence, showing why it is a viable alternative to the mental representational accounts of pretence. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the skilled performance of rock climbing through the framework of Embodied and Enacted Cognitive Science. It introduces a notion of enactive planning that is part of one mindful activity of ongoing responsiveness to the affordances of the wall. The paper takes two distinct planning activities involved in rock climbing—route-reading and visualizing—and clarifies them through the enactivist and ecological concepts of nested affordances, prospecting, recalibrating, marking, and corporeal imaginings, as well as Rylean concept of heeding. The paper shows (...) that an enactive approach to planning can make sense of both the planning done in preparation of the climb, and re-planning done during the mindful performance, without invoking additional cognitive architectures. (shrink)

Tekst stanowi próbę konfrontacji estetyki dekadenckiej z teologicznym myśleniem Jerzego Nowosielskiego. Pretekstem staje się ubiór, sakralizowany w ujęciu Baudelaire’a poprzez osobę dandysa i mający swoją sakralną symbolikę w szatach liturgicznych. Z pozoru osobliwe zestawienie dekadenckiej myśli Baudelaire’owskiej z analizą szat liturgicznych nie jest bezzasadne. Teologia szat zarysowana poprzez Nowosielskiego pozwala wprowadzić do analizy estetyki dekadenckiej myślenie religijne. Choć religijność w dekadencji rozumiana jest specyficznie, to zestawienie z myślą prawosławia pozwala wskazać możliwą drogę jej analizy. Dekadencja objawia transgresyjną aspirację wobec świata (...) profanicznego i analogiczne do religijnego pragnienie transcendencji. Przyjęcie takiego punktu widzenia pozwala na wydobycie wielu nieoczywistych wątków i odnalezienie sacrum w powierzchowności ubioru. (shrink)

Articles chiefly on Vedic themes and Indic philosophy; most previously published.

This paper discusses different frameworks for understanding imagination and metaphor in the context of research on the imaginative skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In contrast to a standard linguistic framework, it advances an embodied and enactive account of imagination and metaphor. The paper describes a case study from a systemic therapeutic session with a child with ASD that makes use of metaphors. It concludes by outlining some theoretical insights into the imaginative skills of children with ASD that (...) follow from taking the embodied-enactive perspective and proposes suggestions for interactive interventions to further enhance imaginative skills and metaphor understanding in children with ASD. (shrink)

David Braun develops two theories of empty names meant to be compatible with the Direct Reference Theory. I first present the main problems that empty names pose for it. Next, I discuss descriptivism , elaborate how a descriptivist might try to deal with these problems, and explain why the descriptivist's approach is unsatisfactory. After explaining Braun's own position I argue that some aspects of his view are still quite problematic, especially his view on the relation between beliefs and propositions, his (...) claim that there are some beliefs which do not express propositions, the fact that some important claims of the Direct Reference Theory have to be modifed to accommodate his account, the lack of semantic differentation between merely syntactically similar sentences, and the coarse-grainedness of the assignment of truth values and identity conditions to certain propositions. (shrink)

This paper presents the results of an eyetracking study that uses the Visual World Paradigm to determine whether heritage speakers of Polish can use grammatical gender cues to facilitate lexical retrieval of the subsequent noun during real time processing. Previous work has investigated this question for heritage speakers of Spanish with gender cues located on definite articles, which are highly frequent in Spanish; the results are therefore consistent both with a grammatical account, wherein heritage speakers access abstract syntactic gender features (...) during processing, and a probabilistic account, wherein facilitation is due to transition probabilities between frequently co-occurring elements. In Polish, gender cues appear on adjectives, which are optional and infrequent. Results of the present study show that heritage speakers of Polish can use gender on inflected adjectives to fixate on the target noun faster in trials where that gender cue uniquely identifies the target noun. This finding supports a grammatical rather than probabilistic account of the facilitative use of grammatical gender in this population: heritage speakers are able to access abstract syntactic information in real time to aid word recognition in a target-like manner. (shrink)

In this paper we explore the notion of rehearsal as a way to develop an embodied and enactive account of imagining. After reviewing the neuroscience of motor imagery, we argue, in the context of performance studies, that rehearsal includes forms of imagining that involve motor processes. We draw on Sartre’s phenomenology of imagining which also suggests that imagining involves motor processes. This research in neuroscience and phenomenology, supports the idea of an embodied and enactive account of imagination.

In this text, we will introduce the reader to the special issue on _Pretense and Imagination from the Perspective of 4E Cognitive Science_. To do so, we will introduce the concept of 4E cognition and showcase what the available 4E approaches to pretense and imagination look like, in particular if they are contrasted with current cognitivist accounts. Against this background, we provide an overview of the articles included in this special issue.

Edmund Husserls Phänomenologie und Sigmund Freuds Psychoanalyse sind zwei große Denktraditionen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Erstmals wird in diesem Buch die lebendige problemgebundene Beziehung zwischen beiden untersucht, und zwar ausgehend von Husserls genetischer Phänomenologie. Im Fokus stehen drei große Erfahrungsbereiche des Menschen: die Assoziation, die Phantasie und der Trieb. Wie sich zeigt, spielen alle drei eine Schlüsselrolle, sowohl für Husserls als auch für Freuds Denken. Die Autorin hat für ihre Studie veröffentlichte wie auch unveröffentlichte Texte aus dem Werk Husserls berücksichtigt und (...) die Ergebnisse lassen die Phänomenologie in einem neuen Licht erscheinen. So rücken in diesem Buch, anders als im allgemein-philosophischen Verständnis von Intentionalität, spezifische Formen der phantasmatischen und imaginären Intentionalität in den Vordergrund. Auf diese Weise betrachtet, zeigt sich die subjektive Erfahrung als eine menschliche Entwicklungsstruktur, die unter einer doppelten Ordnung steht: Wir und unsere Welt sind nicht nur durch Wahrnehmung strukturiert, sondern auch durch imaginäre Leistungen, durch triebhafte Tendenzen und unbewusste Wünsche. Die Autorin findet dafür den Begriff der Bi-Valenz, der Zweiwertigkeit der personalen Realität. Mit dieser Untersuchung werden zwei Ziele erreicht. Einerseits befreit die Autorin das Trieb-Verständnis der Psychoanalyse von seinem naturalistischen Rest, andererseits eröffnet sie für die Phänomenologie einen neuen Bereich anschaulicher Erfahrung: das dynamische Unbewusste. Das Medium dieser Erfahrung ist eine starke, produktive Phantasie, die aus triebhaften Quellen schöpft und unsere Realität mit-gestaltet. Der Band richtet sich an Studierende und Wissenschaftler, die sich für genetische Phänomenologie und die Philosophie der Psychoanalyse interessieren. (shrink)

This article is an attempt to reflect on the issue of how the senses can constitute a kind of frame for the interpretation of reality, as well as an introduction to the concept of post-sightedness, related to the redirection of vision to other senses.