The role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the pr... more The role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the precise nature and scope of that contribution remain contentious. As a result, most philosophers working on embodiment—e.g. those in embodied cognition, enactivism, and ‘4e’ cognition—interact with the life sciences as part of their interdisciplinary agenda. Despite this, a detailed engagement with emerging findings in epigenetics and post-genomic biology has been missing from proponents of this embodied turn. Surveying this research provides an opportunity to rethink the relationship between embodiment and genetics, and we argue that the balance of current epigenetic research favours the extension of an enactivist approach to mind and life, rather than the extended functionalist view of embodied cognition associated with Andy Clark and Mike Wheeler, which is more substrate neutral.
In this paper, we introduce phenomenology, naturalism and contemporary cognitive science. We also... more In this paper, we introduce phenomenology, naturalism and contemporary cognitive science. We also set the scene for the guest-edited journal issue of Australasian Philosophical Review, which begins with a lead article by Shaun Gallagher that examines the question of nature.
In the past generation, various philosophers have been concerned with the so-called “placement pr... more In the past generation, various philosophers have been concerned with the so-called “placement problem” for naturalism. The problem has taken on the shorthand alliteration of the 4Ms, since Mind/Mentality, Meaning, Morality, and Modality/Mathematics are four important phenomena that are difficult to place within orthodox construals of naturalism, typified by physicalism and a methodological preference for ways of knowing associated with the natural sciences. In this paper I highlight the importance of temporality to this ostensibly forced choice between naturalism and the 4Ms, and then reframe the problem by advocating a temporal naturalism rather than the atemporal versions that remain the orthodoxy. In short, I argue in Section 1 that scientific naturalism is standardly atemporal in outlook and in philosophical presuppositions, in Section 2 that temporality is a fundamental condition for each of the 4Ms (drawing on insights from classical phenomenology), and hence the intransigence of the dilemma. Instead of accepting this construal, in Section 3 I outline a temporal naturalism that owes more to biology than to physics (and hence more to Peter Godfrey-Smith than Huw Price), where we also see temporally dependent “points of view” in incipient biological forms, and where the norms surrounding explanation are less nomological and reductive in orientation.
While There Have Been Many Essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with tha... more While There Have Been Many Essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with that of Jacques Derrida, there has been no sustained book-length treatment of these two French philosophers. Additionally, many of the essays presuppose an oppositional relationship between them, and between phenomenology and deconstruction more generally. Jack Reynolds systematically explores their relationship by analyzing each philosopher in terms of two important and related issues--embodiment and alterity. ...
coauthored by Andrew Inkpin, guest-edited introduction to special issue of Continental Philosophy... more coauthored by Andrew Inkpin, guest-edited introduction to special issue of Continental Philosophy Review
In this paper, I take inspiration from some themes in Ann Murphy's recent book, Violence ... more In this paper, I take inspiration from some themes in Ann Murphy's recent book, Violence and the Philosophical Imaginary, especially her argument that philosophy's identity and relation to itself depends on an intimate relationship with that which is designated as not itself (e.g. other academic disciplines and non-philosophy in general), the latter of which is a potential source of shame that calls for some form of response. I argue that this shame is particularly acute in regard to the natural sciences, which have gone on in various ways to distance themselves from their progenitor discipline, and to achieve both agreement and technical progress in a way that could never be said of philosophy. I trace out some of the reactions to this shame that have dominated in the twentieth century, and been a factor in the so-called analytic-continental " divide ". The options here are many and varied but they range from: cannibalism (philosophy as queen of the sciences, thus conferring some of the prestige of science upon the philosophy, which alone can unite or ground the various ontic sciences); scientific naturalism (the philosopher defers to the sciences and most forms of meta-philosophy are rejected as an outmoded remnant of first philosophy); or some kind of irenic separatism about methods or domains such that science and philosophy do not encroach upon the territory of each other. My aims here are mainly diagnostic. I indicate where I think that responses to this shame are unproductive and unhelpful, with divergent weaknesses associated with the traditions that have come to be labeled 'analytic' and 'continental' respectively. My tacit suggestion, then, is that philosophy needs to become post-analytic and meta-continental, but I will also briefly criticise some recent efforts to do precisely this in what is sometimes called the " scientific turn " in contemporary continental (or post-continental) philosophy.
Most readers of Sartre focus only on the works written at the peak of his influence as a public i... more Most readers of Sartre focus only on the works written at the peak of his influence as a public intellectual in the 1940s, notably "Being and Nothingness". "Jean-Paul Sartre: Key Concepts" aims to reassess Sartre and to introduce readers to the full breadth of his philosophy. Bringing together leading international scholars, the book examines concepts from across Sartre's career, from his initial views on the "inner life" of conscious experience, to his later conceptions of hope as the binding agent for a common humanity. The book will be invaluable to readers looking for a comprehensive assessment of Sartre's thinking - from his early influences to the development of his key concepts, to his legacy.
International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2009
Despite its consistently mild tone, Simon Glendinning's The Idea of Continental Phil... more Despite its consistently mild tone, Simon Glendinning's The Idea of Continental Philosophy is a provocative and uncompromising work. It is to be admired for this. Without 'chickening out'(p. 94), Glendinning purports to show that there can be no coherent philosophical understanding of continental philosophy as comprising any sort of distinct or unified tradition. As he says,'there is simply no category that would begin to cover the diversity of work produced by thinkers as methodologically and thematically opposed as those who ...
Asolitary unicameral bone cyst is a relatively rare skeletal lesion. It consists of a fluid-fille... more Asolitary unicameral bone cyst is a relatively rare skeletal lesion. It consists of a fluid-filled intramedullary cavity,2 or 3 cm in diameter, which is lined by a thin layer of connective tissue. The surrounding cortex is preserved, but markedly attenuated (8). Although the lesion has been ...
The role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the pr... more The role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the precise nature and scope of that contribution remain contentious. As a result, most philosophers working on embodiment—e.g. those in embodied cognition, enactivism, and ‘4e’ cognition—interact with the life sciences as part of their interdisciplinary agenda. Despite this, a detailed engagement with emerging findings in epigenetics and post-genomic biology has been missing from proponents of this embodied turn. Surveying this research provides an opportunity to rethink the relationship between embodiment and genetics, and we argue that the balance of current epigenetic research favours the extension of an enactivist approach to mind and life, rather than the extended functionalist view of embodied cognition associated with Andy Clark and Mike Wheeler, which is more substrate neutral.
In this paper, we introduce phenomenology, naturalism and contemporary cognitive science. We also... more In this paper, we introduce phenomenology, naturalism and contemporary cognitive science. We also set the scene for the guest-edited journal issue of Australasian Philosophical Review, which begins with a lead article by Shaun Gallagher that examines the question of nature.
In the past generation, various philosophers have been concerned with the so-called “placement pr... more In the past generation, various philosophers have been concerned with the so-called “placement problem” for naturalism. The problem has taken on the shorthand alliteration of the 4Ms, since Mind/Mentality, Meaning, Morality, and Modality/Mathematics are four important phenomena that are difficult to place within orthodox construals of naturalism, typified by physicalism and a methodological preference for ways of knowing associated with the natural sciences. In this paper I highlight the importance of temporality to this ostensibly forced choice between naturalism and the 4Ms, and then reframe the problem by advocating a temporal naturalism rather than the atemporal versions that remain the orthodoxy. In short, I argue in Section 1 that scientific naturalism is standardly atemporal in outlook and in philosophical presuppositions, in Section 2 that temporality is a fundamental condition for each of the 4Ms (drawing on insights from classical phenomenology), and hence the intransigence of the dilemma. Instead of accepting this construal, in Section 3 I outline a temporal naturalism that owes more to biology than to physics (and hence more to Peter Godfrey-Smith than Huw Price), where we also see temporally dependent “points of view” in incipient biological forms, and where the norms surrounding explanation are less nomological and reductive in orientation.
While There Have Been Many Essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with tha... more While There Have Been Many Essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with that of Jacques Derrida, there has been no sustained book-length treatment of these two French philosophers. Additionally, many of the essays presuppose an oppositional relationship between them, and between phenomenology and deconstruction more generally. Jack Reynolds systematically explores their relationship by analyzing each philosopher in terms of two important and related issues--embodiment and alterity. ...
coauthored by Andrew Inkpin, guest-edited introduction to special issue of Continental Philosophy... more coauthored by Andrew Inkpin, guest-edited introduction to special issue of Continental Philosophy Review
In this paper, I take inspiration from some themes in Ann Murphy's recent book, Violence ... more In this paper, I take inspiration from some themes in Ann Murphy's recent book, Violence and the Philosophical Imaginary, especially her argument that philosophy's identity and relation to itself depends on an intimate relationship with that which is designated as not itself (e.g. other academic disciplines and non-philosophy in general), the latter of which is a potential source of shame that calls for some form of response. I argue that this shame is particularly acute in regard to the natural sciences, which have gone on in various ways to distance themselves from their progenitor discipline, and to achieve both agreement and technical progress in a way that could never be said of philosophy. I trace out some of the reactions to this shame that have dominated in the twentieth century, and been a factor in the so-called analytic-continental " divide ". The options here are many and varied but they range from: cannibalism (philosophy as queen of the sciences, thus conferring some of the prestige of science upon the philosophy, which alone can unite or ground the various ontic sciences); scientific naturalism (the philosopher defers to the sciences and most forms of meta-philosophy are rejected as an outmoded remnant of first philosophy); or some kind of irenic separatism about methods or domains such that science and philosophy do not encroach upon the territory of each other. My aims here are mainly diagnostic. I indicate where I think that responses to this shame are unproductive and unhelpful, with divergent weaknesses associated with the traditions that have come to be labeled 'analytic' and 'continental' respectively. My tacit suggestion, then, is that philosophy needs to become post-analytic and meta-continental, but I will also briefly criticise some recent efforts to do precisely this in what is sometimes called the " scientific turn " in contemporary continental (or post-continental) philosophy.
Most readers of Sartre focus only on the works written at the peak of his influence as a public i... more Most readers of Sartre focus only on the works written at the peak of his influence as a public intellectual in the 1940s, notably "Being and Nothingness". "Jean-Paul Sartre: Key Concepts" aims to reassess Sartre and to introduce readers to the full breadth of his philosophy. Bringing together leading international scholars, the book examines concepts from across Sartre's career, from his initial views on the "inner life" of conscious experience, to his later conceptions of hope as the binding agent for a common humanity. The book will be invaluable to readers looking for a comprehensive assessment of Sartre's thinking - from his early influences to the development of his key concepts, to his legacy.
International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2009
Despite its consistently mild tone, Simon Glendinning's The Idea of Continental Phil... more Despite its consistently mild tone, Simon Glendinning's The Idea of Continental Philosophy is a provocative and uncompromising work. It is to be admired for this. Without 'chickening out'(p. 94), Glendinning purports to show that there can be no coherent philosophical understanding of continental philosophy as comprising any sort of distinct or unified tradition. As he says,'there is simply no category that would begin to cover the diversity of work produced by thinkers as methodologically and thematically opposed as those who ...
Asolitary unicameral bone cyst is a relatively rare skeletal lesion. It consists of a fluid-fille... more Asolitary unicameral bone cyst is a relatively rare skeletal lesion. It consists of a fluid-filled intramedullary cavity,2 or 3 cm in diameter, which is lined by a thin layer of connective tissue. The surrounding cortex is preserved, but markedly attenuated (8). Although the lesion has been ...
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