Enactive and simondonian reflections on mental disorders.

The enactive approach, a branch of 4-E cognitive theories, offers an integrative framework for studying mental disorders by encompassing organic, sensorimotor, and intersubjective dimensions of embodiment. Drawing on Gilbert Simondon's philosophy of individuation, the article provides conceptual tools to understand the dynamic, interactive nature of human bodies in mental disorders. It analyzes five aspects of sense-making—temporality, adaptivity, multiplicity of normativities, the role of tension, and participatory character. The authors suggest that mental disorders and symptoms involve difficulties in transforming tensions and performing individuation processes, reducing the field of potentialities for self-individuation and sense-making.

Study at a glance

Abstract

As an alternative to linear and unidimensional perspectives focused mainly on either organic or psychological processes, the enactive approach to life and mind—a branch of 4-E (embodied, embedded, enactive, extended) cognitive theories—offers an integrative framework to study mental disorders that encompasses and articulates organic, sensorimotor, and intersubjective dimensions of embodiment. These three domains are deeply entangled in a non-trivial manner. A question remains on how this systemic and multi-dimensional approach may be applied to our understanding of mental disorders and symptomatic behavior. Drawing on Gilbert Simondon’s philosophy of individuation (focusing particularly on the concepts of tension , metastability , and preindividual ), we provide some enactive conceptual tools to better understand the dynamic, interactive, and multi-dimensional nature of human bodies in mental disorders and psychopathological symptoms. One of such tools cursiva is sense-making, a key notion that captures the relational process of generating meaning by interacting with the sociomaterial environment. The article analyzes five aspects related to sense-making: temporality, adaptivity, the multiplicity of normativities it involves, the fundamental role of tension, and its participatory character. On this basis, we draw certain implications for our understanding of mental disorders and diverse symptoms, and suggest their interpretation in terms of difficulties to transform tensions and perform individuation processes, which result in a reduction of the field of potentialities for self-individuation and sense-making.