Przemysław Nowakowski: The subject and his world in statu nascendi
[Podmiot i jego świat in statu nascendi]
Abstract:
Similarly to other works created in the context of enactivism, the works presented in this section refer to the permanently emerging subject as well as, simultaneously, the world of this subject. In the article entitled “The Mind-Body-Body Problem” an animal becomes the basic element of the mind-body-body relation, while in “Living ways of sense-making” the author makes a callback to the research he performed together with Varela in the context of phenomenology and biology.
Keywords: animal, biology, enactivism, mind-body-body problem, phenomenology.
Przemysław Nowakowski: Does my body embody cognition?
[Czy moje ciało ucieleśnia poznanie?]
Abstract:
The works published in this section address the question of embodied cognition in an inspiring manner. In her article written ten years ago, Natika Newton deals with the notion of the relation between mental representation and embodiment. Frederique de Vignemont in his text written five years prior begins a strictly philosophical debate regarding the sense of ownership of one?s own body. Claire Petitmengin?s article is a kind of counterpoint to the previous texts. She attempts to explain and demonstrate the profound dimension of experience which she characterizes as affective, transmodal and gestural.
Keywords: body, cognition, embodiment, gestural, mental representation, practice of experience, sense of ownership, transmodal.
Łukasz Afeltowicz: (What does) a cognitivist in the supermarket
[(Co robi) kognitywista w supermarkecie]
Abstract:
The central area of David Kirsh’s interest is the various ways in which humans use elements of their environment as external components of computation processes or means enabling them to reduce the complexity of cognitive problems they face. in his research he performs field observations as well as laboratory experiments. Kirsh skillfully blends concepts developed in contemporary cognitive science, such as situated cognition or extended mind, with classic concepts including problem solving. A number of his theses seam to derive from “good, old fashioned” computationalism; however, this does not prevent him from demonstrating how cognitive “computations” assume not only reasonings, but also use of cognitive artifacts, bodies or the space itself. In the current issue of AVANT we present two texts authored by Kirsh.
Keywords: everyday practices, experiment, field observations, problem solving, reduction of complexity, situated cognition.
Krzysztof Abriszewski & Maciej Frąckowiak: McLuhan meets Derrida and cholera in the study on science
[McLuhan spotyka Derridę i cholerę w studiach nad nauką]
Abstract:
The present text is a special kind of an introduction to the study “Visualization and Cognition” by Bruno Latour, structurally referring to the “A prologue in form of a dialogue between a Student and his (somewhat) Socratic Professor” by the same author. There emerges a picture of one of Latour’s two most important works on science, the source of his most important findings in this field, a classic of the area of visual anthropology. As shown by the authors, “Visualization …” gives us an opportunity to comprehend the broadly understood images of the anthropology of science and the Actor-Network Theory, and can be a starting point for the moral and political reflection on modern science, including attempts to deal with the question: how to do science in a reasonable manner.
Keywords: Actor-Network Theory, centers of calculation, ethnography of inscription, science and technology studies, visual studies.
