Computational enactivism under the free energy principle
Synthese March 1, 2021 Tomasz Korbak 23 citations
Enactivism and computationalism, two opposing traditions in cognitive science, can be reconciled through the free energy principle (FEP). FEP describes cognitive systems as encoding generative models of their environments and minimizing free energy to maintain non-equilibrium steady-states. A computationalist interprets this as Bayesian inference underlying perception and action, making cognition a computational process. An enactivist sees it as continuous self-organization. The paper argues both interpretations are simultaneously true and mutually illuminating.