On Radical Enactivist Accounts of Arithmetical Cognition
Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy February 18, 2025 Markus Pantsar 2 citations
The paper evaluates whether a radically enactive (embodied) account of cognition, which rejects mental representations for basic minds, can explain arithmetical cognition. It first examines whether empirical data on evolutionarily developed proto-arithmetical abilities support this view, concluding that while more research is needed, the radical enactivist position can be developed consistently with current evidence. It then addresses whether this account can explain the objectivity of arithmetical knowledge, arguing against a realist interpretation and instead proposing that objectivity arises from universal proto-arithmetical abilities that shape the development of arithmetical cognition.