The 4E approach to cognition—embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended—challenges traditional views by asking whether these features merely influence mental phenomena or actually constitute them. The authors argue that the standard metaphysical understanding of constitution (X is necessary for P in all possible worlds) is no longer tenable. They also emphasize that the role of mental representations is a separate question from that of the 4E features. This introduction sets the stage for a multi-section exploration of how these features reshape thinking about the mind, outlining the importance of each section for the ongoing debate.
Consciousness is rarely examined from an evolutionary perspective, yet doing so can resolve conflicts among leading theories that focus too narrowly on cortical brain regions. The authors distinguish three core phenomena of phenomenal consciousness: basic arousal, which alarms the body and secures survival by intervening in slow homeostatic updates; general alertness, which fosters advanced learning and decision-making; and reflexive (self-)consciousness, which enables future-directed long-term planning and understanding others' minds. Each has a distinct function. Constraining theories of consciousness with this evolutionary and functional approach can advance the science of consciousness and guide the search for distinct neural correlates.