Concept
Extended mind thesis
Overview
In philosophy of mind, the extended mind thesis (EMT) says that the mind does not exclusively reside in the brain or even the body, but extends into the physical world. The thesis proposes that some objects in the external environment can be part of a cognitive process and in that way function as extensions of the mind itself. Examples of such objects are written calculations, a diary, or a personal computer; in general, it concerns objects that store information. The hypothesis considers the mind to encompass every level of cognition, including the physical level.
It was proposed by Andy Clark and David Chalmers in "The Extended Mind" (1998). They describe the idea as "active externalism, based on the active role of the environment in driving cognitive processes."
For the matter of personal identity (and the philosophy of self), the EMT has the implication that some parts of a person's identity can be determined by their environment.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
This perception, they say, is an _act_ of the mind, proceeding from its own spontaneous activity; while in a sensation the mind is passive, being merely acted upon by the outward object. And according to some metaphysicians, it is by an act of the mind, similar to perception, except in not being preceded by any sensation, that the existence of God, the soul, and other hyper-physical objects is recognised. These acts…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic
States what Extended mind thesis is.
(2) As to what philosophers say of subject and mode, that seems very groundless and unintelligible. For instance, in this proposition "a die is hard, extended, and square," they will have it that the word die denotes a subject or substance, distinct from the hardness, extension, and figure which are predicated of it, and in which they exist. This I cannot comprehend: to me a die seems to be nothing distinct from…
George Berkeley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
States what Extended mind thesis is.
Consequently he is likely to set the sort of object or material which has place and significance only in one of the serial functional situations of experience, over against the active attitude which describes part of the structural constitution of another situation; or with equal lack of justification to assimilate terms characteristic of different stages to one another. He sets the agent, as he is found in the…
John Dewey, Studies in Logical Theory
States what Extended mind thesis is.
Philosophers who discussed Extended mind thesis
Related ideas
- Cognition
- Natural kind
- Information
- Mind
- Philosophy of self
- Nervous system
- David Chalmers
- Externalism
- Personal identity
- Brain
- Thought experiment
- Human body
- Andy Clark
- Philosophy of mind
- Binding problem
- Mark Rowlands
- Vincent C. Müller
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Embodied cognition.