Going Radical

Radical versions of enactive, embodied, and ecological approaches to cognition, which seek to replace rather than complement traditional cognitivist accounts, may offer a genuine conceptual revolution. This chapter evaluates the major options proposed by E-theorists, rating each by radicality. It reviews the hard problem of content and argues that adopting a radical approach is one of the most attractive ways to address it, opening up a positive research program worth exploring.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract E-approaches to cognition—enactive, embodied, ecological—conceive of minds as fundamentally relational and interactive. They are often heralded as offering a new paradigm for thinking about the mental. Yet only the most radical versions of E-approaches—those that seek not to complement but to replace traditional cognitivist accounts of mind—have any prospect of ushering in a truly revolutionary rethink of the nature of cognition. This chapter considers whether such a conceptual revolution might really be in the cards. It identities the major options proposed by E-theorists, rating each in terms of degree of radicality. It reminds readers of the hard problem of content and reviews the range of options for handling it. It argues that “going radical” is one of the most attractive ways of dealing with the hard problem of content and that it is worth exploring the positive research program that going radical opens up.