Preface Cognitive science is a new field that brings together what is known about the mind from many academic disciplines:psychology,linguistics,anthro- pology,philosophy,and computer science.It seeks detailed answers to such questions as:What is reason?How do we make sense of our experi- ence?What is a conceptual system and how is it organized?Do all people use the same conceptual system?If so,what is that system?If not,exactly what is there that is common to the way all human beings think?The questions aren't new,but some recent answers are. This book is about the traditional answers to these questions and about recent research that suggests new answers.On the traditional view,rea- son is abstract and disembodied.On the new view,reason has a bodily ba- sis.The traditional view sees reason as literal,as primarily about proposi- tions that can be objectively either true or false.The new view takes imaginative aspects of reason-metaphor,metonymy,and mental imag- ery-as central to reason,rather than as a peripheral and inconsequential adjunct to the literal. The traditional account claims that the capacity for meaningful thought and for reason is abstract and not necessarily embodied in any organism. Thus,meaningful concepts and rationality are transcendental,in the sense that they transcend,or go beyond,the physical limitations of any orga- nism.Meaningful concepts and abstract reason may happen to be embod- ied in human beings,or in machines,or in other organisms-but they exist abstractly,independent of any particular embodiment.In the new view,meaning is a matter of what is meaningful to thinking,functioning beings.The nature of the thinking organism and the way it functions in its environment are of central concern to the study of reason. Both views take categorization as the main way that we make sense of experience.Categories on the traditional view are characterized solely by the properties shared by their members.That is,they are characterized xi
Preface Cognitive science is a new field that brings together what is known cbout the mind from many academic disciplines: psychology, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, and computer science. It seeks detailed answers to such questions as: What is reason? How do we make sense of our experience? What is a conceptual system and how is it organized? Do all people use the same conceptual system? Ifso, what is that system? If not, exactly what is there that is common to the way all human beings think? The questions aren't new, but some recent answers are. This book is abou~ the traditional answers to these questions and about recent research that suggests new answers. On the traditional view, reason is abstract and disembodied. On the new view, reason has a bodily basis. The traditional view sees reason as literal, as primarily about propositions that can be objectively either true or false. The new view takes imaginative aspects of reason-metaphor, metonymy, and mental imagery-as central to reason, rather than as a peripheral and inconsequential adjunct to the literal. The traditional account claims that the capacity for meaningful thought and for reason is abstract and not necessarily embodied in any organism. Thus, meaningful concepts and rationality are transcendental, in the sense that they transcend, or go beyond, the physical limitations of any organism. Meaningful concepts and abstract reason may happen to be embodied in human beings, or in machines, or in other organisms-but they exist abstractly, independent of any particular embodiment. In the new view, meaning is a matter of what is meaningful to thinking, functioning beings. The nature of the thinking organism and the way it functions in its environment are of central concern to the study of reason. Both views take categorization as the main way that we make sense of experience. Categories on the traditional view are characterized solely by the properties shared by their members. That is, they are characterized Xl
xii Preface (a)independently of the bodily nature of the beings doing the categoriz- ing and(b)literally,with no imaginative mechanisms(metaphor,meton- ymy,and imagery)entering into the nature of categories.In the new view,our bodily experience and the way we use imaginative mechanisms are central to how we construct categories to make sense of experience. Cognitive science is now in transition.The traditional view is hanging on,although the new view is beginning to take hold.Categorization is a central issue.The traditional view is tied to the classical theory that categories are defined in terms of common properties of their members. But a wealth of new data on categorization appears to contradict the traditional view of categories.In its place there is a new view of catego- ries,what Eleanor Rosch has termed the theory of prototypes and basic- level categories.We will be surveying that data and its implications. The traditional view is a philosophical one.It has come out of two thousand years of philosophizing about the nature of reason.It is still widely believed despite overwhelming empirical evidence against it. There are two reasons.The first is simply that it is traditional.The accumu- lated weight of two thousand years of philosophy does not go away over- night.We have all been educated to think in those terms.The second reason is that there has been,until recently,nothing approaching a well- worked-out alternative that preserves what was correct in the traditional view while modifying it to account for newly discovered data.This book will also be concerned with describing such an alternative. We will be calling the traditional view objectivism for the following reason:Modern attempts to make it work assume that rational thought consists of the manipulation of abstract symbols and that these symbols get their meaning via a correspondence with the world,objectively con- strued,that is,independent of the understanding of any organism.A col- lection of symbols placed in correspondence with an objectively struc- tured world is viewed as a representation of reality.On the objectivist view,all rational thought involves the manipulation of abstract symbols which are given meaning only via conventional correspondences with things in the external world. Among the more specific objectivist views are the following: -Thought is the mechanical manipulation of abstract symbols. -The mind is an abstract machine,manipulating symbols essentially in the way a computer does,that is,by algorithmic computation. -Symbols (e.g.,words and mental representations)get their meaning via correspondences to things in the external world.All meaning is of this character
xii Preface (a) independently of the bodily nature of the beings doing the categorizing and (b) literally, with no imaginative mechanisms (metaphor, metonymy, and imagery) entering into the nature of categories. In the new view, our bodily experience and the way we use imaginative mechanisms are central to how we construct categories to make sense of experience. Cognitive science is now in transition. The traditional view is hanging on, although the new view is beginning to take hold. Categorization is a central issue. The traditional view is tied to the classical theory that categories are defined in terms of common properties of their members. But a wealth of new data on categorization appears to contradict the traditional view of categories. In its place there is a new view of categories, what Eleanor Rosch has termed the theory of prototypes and basiclevel categories. We will be surveying that data and its implications. The traditional view is a philosophical one. It has come out of two thousand years of philosophizing about the nature of reason. It is still widely believed despite overwhelming empirical evidence against it. There are two reasons. The first is simply that it is traditional. The accumulated weight of two thousand years of philosophy does not go away overnight. We have all been educated to think in those terms. The second reason is that there has been, until recently, nothing approaching a wellworked-out alternative that preserves what was correct in the traditional view while modifying it to account for newly discovered data. This book will also be concerned with describing such an alternative. We will be calling the traditional view objectivism for the following reason: Modern attempts to make it work assume that rational thought consists of the manipulation of abstract symbols and that these symbols get their meaning via a correspondence with the world, objectively construed, that is, independent of the understanding of any organism. A collection of symbols placed in correspondence with an objectively structured world is viewed as a representation of reality. On the objectivist view, all rational thought involves the manipulation of abstract symbols which are given meaning only via conventional correspondences with things in the external world. Among the more specific objectivist views are the following: - Thought is the mechanical manipulation of abstract symbols. - The mind is an abstract machine, manipulating symbols essentially in the way a computer does, that is, by algorithmic computation. _ Symbols (e.g., words and mental representations) get their meaning via correspondences to things in the external world. All meaning is of this character
Preface xiii -Symbols that correspond to the external world are internal representa- tions of external reality -Abstract symbols may stand in correspondence to things in the world independent of the peculiar properties of any organisms. Since the human mind makes use of internal representations of exter- nal reality,the mind is a mirror of nature,and correct reason mirrors the logic of the external world. -It is thus incidental to the nature of meaningful concepts and reason that human beings have the bodies they have and function in their en- vironment in the way they do.Human bodies may play a role in choosing which concepts and which modes of transcendental reason human beings actually employ,but they play no essential role in char- acterizing what constitutes a concept and what constitutes reason. Thought is abstract and disembodied,since it is independent of any limitations of the human body,the human perceptual system,and the human nervous system. -Machines that do no more than mechanically manipulate symbols that correspond to things in the world are capable of meaningful thought and reason. -Thought is atomistic,in that it can be completely broken down into simple "building blocks"-the symbols used in thought-which are combined into complexes and manipulated by rule. Thought is logical in the narrow technical sense used by philosophical logicians;that is,it can be modeled accurately by systems of the sort used in mathematical logic.These are abstract symbol systems defined by general principles of symbol manipulation and mecha- nisms for interpreting such symbols in terms of"models of the world." Though such views are by no means shared by all cognitive scientists,they are nevertheless widespread,and in fact so common that many of them are often assumed to be true without question or comment.Many,per- haps even most,contemporary discussions of the mind as a computing machine take such views for granted. The idea of a category is central to such views.The reason is that most symbols (i.e.,words and mental representations)do not designate particular things or individuals in the world(e.g.,Rickey Henderson or the Golden Gate Bridge).Most of our words and concepts designate catego- ries.Some of these are categories of things or beings in the physical world-chairs and zebras,for example.Others are categories of activities and abstract things-singing and songs,voting and governments,etc.To a very large extent,the objectivist view of language and thought rests on
Preface xiii - Symbols that correspond to the external world are internal representations of external reality. - Abstract symbols may stand in correspondence to things in the world independent of the peculiar properties of any organisms. - Since the human mind makes use of internal representations of external reality, the mind is a mirror ofnature, and correct reason mirrors the logic of the external world. - It is thus incidental to the nature of meaningful concepts and reason that human beings have the bodies they have and function in their environment in the way they do. Human bodies may play a role in choosing which concepts and which modes of transcendental reason human beings actually employ, but they play no essential role in characterizing what constitutes a concept and what constitutes reason. - Thought is abstract and disembodied, since it is independent of any limitations of the human body, the human perceptual system, and the human nervous system. - Machines that do no more than mechanically manipulate symbols that correspond to things in the world are capable of meaningful thought and reason. - Thought is atomistic, in that it can be completely broken down into simple "building blocks"-the symbols used in thought-which are combined into complexes and manipulated by rule. - Thought is logical in the narrow technical sense used by philosophical logicians; that is, it can be modeled accurately by systems of the sort used in mathematical logic. These are abstract symbol systems defined by general principles of symbol manipulation and mechanisms for interpreting such symbols in terms of "models of the world." Though such views are by no means shared by all cognitive scientists, they are nevertheless widespread, and in fact so common that many of them are often assumed to be true without question or comment. Many, perhaps even most, contemporary discussions of the mind as a computing machine take such views for granted. The idea of a category is central to such views. The reason is that most symbols (i.e., words and mental representations) do not designate particular things or individuals in the world (e.g., Rickey Henderson or the Golden Gate Bridge). Most of our words and concepts designate categories. Some of these are categories of things or beings in the physical world~hairs and zebras, for example. Others are categories of activities and abstract things-singing and songs, voting and governments, etc. To a very large extent, the objectivist view of language and thought rests on
xiv Preface the nature of categories.On the objectivist view,things are in the same category if and only if they have certain properties in common.Those properties are necessary and sufficient conditions for defining the cate- gory. On the objectivist view of meaning,the symbols used in thought get their meaning via their correspondence with things-particular things or categories of things-in the world.Since categories,rather than individ- uals,matter most in thought and reason,a category must be the sort of thing that can fit the objectivist view of mind in general.All conceptual categories must be symbols (or symbolic structures)that can designate categories in the real world,or in some possible world.And the world must come divided up into categories of the right kind so that symbols and symbolic structures can refer to them."Categories of the right kind"are classical categories,categories defined by the properties common to all their members. In recent years,conceptual categories have been studied intensively and in great detail in a number of the cognitive sciences-especially an- thropology,linguistics,and psychology.The evidence that has accumulated is in conflict with the objectivist view of mind.Conceptual categories are,on the whole,very different from what the objectivist view requires of them.That evidence suggests a very different view,not only of categories,but of human reason in general: -Thought is embodied,that is,the structures used to put together our conceptual systems grow out of bodily experience and make sense in terms of it;moreover,the core of our conceptual systems is directly grounded in perception,body movement,and experience of a physi- cal and social character. -Thought is imaginative,in that those concepts which are not directly grounded in experience employ metaphor,metonymy,and mental imagery-all of which go beyond the literal mirroring,or representa- tion,of external reality.it is this imaginative capacity that allows for "abstract"thought and takes the mind beyond what we can see and feel.The imaginative capacity is also embodied-indirectly-since the metaphors,metonymies,and images are based on experience,of- ten bodily experience.Thought is also imaginative in a less obvious way:every time we categorize something in a way that does not mir- ror nature,we are using general human imaginative capacities -Thought has gestalt properties and is thus not atomistic;concepts have an overall structure that goes beyond merely putting together concep- tual“building blocks”by general rules.. Thought has an ecological structure.The efficiency of cognitive pro-
xiv Preface the nature of categories. On the objectivist view, things are in the same category if and only if they have certain properties in common. Those properties are necessary and sufficient conditions for defining the category. On the objectivist view of meaning, the symbols used in thought get their meaning via their correspondence with things-particular things or categories of things-in the world. Since categories, rather than individuals, matter most in thought and reason, a category must be the sort of thing that can fit the objectivist view of mind in general. All conceptual categories must be symbols (or symbolic structures) that can designate categories in the real world, or in some possible world. And the world must come divided up into categories of the right kind so that symbols and symbolic structures can refer to them. "Categories of the right kind" are classical categories, categories defined by the properties common to all their members. In recent years, conceptual categories have been studied intensively and in great detail in a number of the cognitive sciences~specially anthropology, linguistics, and psychology. The evidence that has accumulated is in conflict with the objectivist view of mind. Conceptual categories are, on the whole, very different from what the objectivist view requires of them. That evidence suggests a very different view, not only of categories, but of human reason in general: - Thought is embodied, that is, the structures used to put together our conceptual systems grow out of bodily eXyerience and make sense in terms of it; moreover, the core of our conceptual systems is directly grounded in perception, body movement, and experience of a physical and social character. _ Thought is imaginative, in that those concepts which are not directly grounded in experience employ metaphor, metonymy, and mental imagery-all of which go beyond the literal mirroring, or representation, of external reality. It is this imaginative capacity that allows for "abstract" thought and takes the mind beyond what we can see and feel. The imaginative capacity is also embodied-indirectly-since the metaphors, metonymies, and images are based on experience, often bodily experience. Thought is also imaginative in a less obvious way: every time we categorize something in a way that does not mirror nature, we are us'iog general human imaginative capacities. _ Thought has gestalt properties and is thus not atomistic; concepts have an overall structure that goes beyond merely putting together conceptual "building blocks" by general rules. _ Thought has an ecological structure. The efficiency of cognitive pro-
Preface XV cessing,as in learning and memory,depends on the overall structure of the conceptual system and on what the concepts mean.Thought is thus more than just the mechanical manipulation of abstract symbols. Conceptual structure can be described using cognitive models that have the above properties. -The theory of cognitive models incorporates what was right about the traditional view of categorization,meaning,and reason,while ac- counting for the empirical data on categorization and fitting the new view overall I will refer to the new view as experiential realism or alternatively as ex- perientialism.The term experiential realism emphasizes what experien- tialism shares with objectivism:(a)a commitment to the existence of the real world,(b)a recognition that reality places constraints on concepts, (c)a conception of truth that goes beyond mere internal coherence,and (d)a commitment to the existence of stable knowledge of the world. Both names reflect the idea that thought fundamentally grows out of embodiment."Experience"here is taken in a broad rather than a narrow sense.It includes everything that goes to make up actual or potential experiences of either individual organisms or communities of organisms -not merely perception,motor movement,etc.,but especially the internal genetically acquired makeup of the organism and the nature of its interactions in both its physical and its social environments. Experientialism is thus defined in contrast with objectivism,which holds that the characteristics of the organism have nothing essential to do with concepts or with the nature of reason.On the objectivist view,hu- man reason is just a limited form of transcendental reason.The only roles accorded to the body are (a)to provide access to abstract concepts,(b)to provide "wetware,"that is,a biological means of mimicking patterns of transcendental reason,and (c)to place limitations on possible concepts and forms of reason.On the experientialist view,reason is made possible by the body-that includes abstract and creative reason,as well as reasoning about concrete things.Human reason is not an instantiation of transcendental reason;it grows out of the nature of the organism and all that contributes to its individual and collective experience:its genetic in- heritance,the nature of the environment it lives in,the way it functions in that environment,the nature of its social functioning,and the like. The issue is this: Do meaningful thought and reason concern merely the manipulation of abstract symbols and their correspondence to an objective reality, independent of any embodiment (except,perhaps,for limitations im- posed by the organism)?
Preface xv cessing, as in learning and memory, depends on the overall structure of the conceptual system and on what the concepts mean. Thought is thus more than just the mechanical manipulation of abstract symbols. - Conceptual structure can be described using cognitive models that have the above properties. - The theory of cognitive models incorporates what was right about the traditional view of categorization, meaning, and reason, while accounting for the empirical data on categorization and fitting the new view overall. I will refer to the new view as experiential realism or alternatively as experientialism. The term experiential realism emphasizes what experientialism shares with objectivism: (a) a commitment to the existence of the real world, (b) a recognition that reality places constraints on concepts, (c) a conception of truth that goes beyond mere internal coherence, and (d) a commitment to the existence of stable knowledge of the world. Both names reflect the idea that thought fundamentally grows out of embodiment. "Experience" here is taken in a broad rather than a narrow sense. It includes everything that goes to make up actual or potential experiences of either individual organisms or communities of organisms -not merely perception, motor movement, etc., but especially the internal genetically acquired makeup of the organism and the nature of its interactions in both its physical and its social environments. Experientialism is thus defined in contrast with objectivism, which holds that the characteristics of the organism have nothing essential to do with concepts or with the nature of reason. On the objectivist view, human reason is just a limited form of transcendental reason. The only roles accorded to the body are (a) to provide access to abstract concepts, (b) to provide "wetware," that is, a biological means of mimicking patterns of transcendental reason, and (c) to place limitations on possible concepts and forms of reason. On the experientialist view, reason is made possible by the body-that includes abstract and creative reason, as well as reasoning about concrete things. Human reason is not an instantiation of transcendental reason; it grows out of the nature of the organism and all that contributes to its individual and collective experience: its genetic inheritance, the nature of the environment it lives in, the way it functions in that environment, the nature of its social functioning, and the like. The issue is this: Do meaningful thought and reason concern merely the manipulation of abstract symbols and their correspondence to an objective reality, independent of any embodiment (except, perhaps, for limitations imposed by the organism)?