Studies of mind, thought and reason have tended to marginalize the role of bodily form, real-world action, and environmental backdrop. In recent years, both in philosophy and cognitive science, this tendency has been identified and, increasingly, resisted. The result is a plethora of work on what has become known as embodied, situated, distributed, and even 'extended' cognition. Work in this new, loosely knit field depicts thought and reason as in some way inextricably tied to the details of our gross bodily form, our habits of action and intervention, and the enabling web of social, cultural, and technological scaffolding in which we live, move, learn, and think. But exactly what kind of link is at issue? And what difference might such a link or links make to our best philosophical, psychological, and computational models of thought and reason? These are among the large unsolved problems in this increasingly popular field. Drawing upon recent work in psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, robotics, human-computer systems, and beyond, Supersizing the Mind offers both a tour of the emerging landscape, and a sustained argument in favor of one approach to the key issues. That approach combines the use of representational, computational, and information-theoretic tools with an appreciation of the importance of context, timing, biomechanics, and dynamics. More controversially, it depicts some coalitions of biological and non-biological resources as the extended cognitive circuitry of individual minds. With a substantial foreword by David Chalmers, Supersizing the Mind is essential reading for all those interested in embodied cognition, the extended mind, and the likely shape of twenty-first century cognitive scientific explanation.
Supersizing the Mind
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an important book for all cognitive-science theorists of all stripes... Supersizing the Mind will set the terms for many of the coming debates (Evan Thompson, Times Literary Supplement )
Supersizing the Mind is a treat to read. It is brimming with remarkable ideas, novel insights and amusing language. (Melvyn Goodale, Nature )
[A] brilliant new book... Dave Chalmers...offers a terrific introduction... Supersizing the Mind provides the best argument I've seen for the idea that minds are smeared over more space than neuroscience might have us believe (Owen Flanagan, New Scientist )
Supersizing the Mind is a treat to read. It is brimming with remarkable ideas, novel insights and amusing language. (Melvyn Goodale, Nature )
[A] brilliant new book... Dave Chalmers...offers a terrific introduction... Supersizing the Mind provides the best argument I've seen for the idea that minds are smeared over more space than neuroscience might have us believe (Owen Flanagan, New Scientist )
About the Author
Andy Clark is Professor of Philosophy, Edinburgh University. Author of Being There, and Natural Born Cyborgs.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've been prompted to write this review as the only other review at the moment awards the book 1 star, and for a grossly unfair reason. While the book is probably not ideal for a complete beginner to the area, the synposis in the 'product description' in no way advertises it as such. Furthermore, Clark writes with a fantastic level of clarity, littering his prose with examples, explanations, footnotes for further exploration, and diagrams where appropriate - something I find lacking in some similar books. Having read only this book in depth, I can't comment on whether another of his books might be better suited to an introductory text, but I can certainly say that with the prerequisite time and patience required for reading any good philosophy/psychology/cognitive science book, this book will provide an interesting and clear insight into the area via a well written and structured text.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Chris Nunn
Format:Paperback
This book is seriously cutting-edge philosophy of mind but should prove fun to read, informative and thought-provoking as long as you already have some background knowledge of psychology and related topics. It provides the most compelling case I have come across in favour of the so-called 'embodied mind' approach which is based on the thinking of philosophers Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty and was subsequently developed by a whole range of psychologists and others, including Francesco Varela. On this view, our minds are not functions of our brains alone but also incorporate many aspects of our bodies and environments, especially social environments. There's lots of evidence in its favour, as Andy Clark describes in depth, leading to a much clearer understanding of the nature of our minds than other approaches can offer. Even Artificial Intelligence experts, who used to think of mind in purely computastional terms, are now taking it seriously. If I have any criticism it is that, although Clark's approach plainly connects with dynamic systems theory, he rather skates over the additional insights that this might provide.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Mr White
Format:Hardcover
Anyone familiar with the field of cognitive science will likely have read about, or at least heard about, the concept of "the extended mind", which claims that some parts of the environment (e.g. notebooks, pocket calculators, etc) are just as much a part of the mind as the brain. And in that way the mind is extended to include objects and processes that are outside the brain. The concept originates from Andy Clark and David Chalmers, who published a well-known paper in 1998, titled The Extended Mind. This book expands upon that paper and attempts to address many of the objections that have arisen.
Overall, this is an interesting and well-written book. However, it loses 1 star because the first half of the book is largely irrelevant to the extended mind and is more about the body.
Overall, this is an interesting and well-written book. However, it loses 1 star because the first half of the book is largely irrelevant to the extended mind and is more about the body.
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