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Phenomenal Transparency and the Extended Mind

Phenomenal Transparency and the Extended Mind
Phenomenal Transparency and the Extended Mind
Proponents of the extended mind have suggested that phenomenal transparency may be important to the way we evaluate putative cases of cognitive extension. In particular, it has been suggested that in order for a bio-external resource to count as part of the machinery of the mind, it must qualify as a form of transparent equipment or transparent technology. The present paper challenges this claim. It also challenges the idea that phenomenological properties can be used to settle disputes regarding the constitutional (versus merely causal) status of bio-external resources in episodes of extended cognizing. Rather than regard phenomenal transparency as a criterion for cognitive extension, we suggest that transparency is a feature of situations that support the ascription of certain cognitive/mental dispositional properties to both ourselves and others. By directing attention to the forces and factors that motivate disposition ascriptions, we arrive at a clearer picture of the role of transparency in arguments for extended cognition and the extended mind. As it turns out, transparency is neither necessary nor sufficient for cognitive extension, but this does not mean that it is entirely irrelevant to our understanding of the circumstances in which episodes of extended cognizing are apt to arise.
Disposition, Extended cognition, Extended mind, Mechanism, Phenomenal transparency
0039-7857
1–25
Smart, Paul
cd8a3dbf-d963-4009-80fb-76ecc93579df
Andrada, Gloria
7e0add5b-02ab-42a8-a54b-3dc9ec72021b
Clowes, Robert
e95ba4b2-48fa-45d0-8f9f-d428ac6c97a6
Smart, Paul
cd8a3dbf-d963-4009-80fb-76ecc93579df
Andrada, Gloria
7e0add5b-02ab-42a8-a54b-3dc9ec72021b
Clowes, Robert
e95ba4b2-48fa-45d0-8f9f-d428ac6c97a6

Smart, Paul, Andrada, Gloria and Clowes, Robert (2022) Phenomenal Transparency and the Extended Mind. Synthese, 200 (4), 1–25, [335]. (doi:10.1007/s11229-022-03824-6).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Proponents of the extended mind have suggested that phenomenal transparency may be important to the way we evaluate putative cases of cognitive extension. In particular, it has been suggested that in order for a bio-external resource to count as part of the machinery of the mind, it must qualify as a form of transparent equipment or transparent technology. The present paper challenges this claim. It also challenges the idea that phenomenological properties can be used to settle disputes regarding the constitutional (versus merely causal) status of bio-external resources in episodes of extended cognizing. Rather than regard phenomenal transparency as a criterion for cognitive extension, we suggest that transparency is a feature of situations that support the ascription of certain cognitive/mental dispositional properties to both ourselves and others. By directing attention to the forces and factors that motivate disposition ascriptions, we arrive at a clearer picture of the role of transparency in arguments for extended cognition and the extended mind. As it turns out, transparency is neither necessary nor sufficient for cognitive extension, but this does not mean that it is entirely irrelevant to our understanding of the circumstances in which episodes of extended cognizing are apt to arise.

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Accepted/In Press date: 21 July 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 August 2022
Published date: August 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work is partially funded by Portuguese national funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under the project UIDB/00183/2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
Keywords: Disposition, Extended cognition, Extended mind, Mechanism, Phenomenal transparency

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 469083
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469083
ISSN: 0039-7857
PURE UUID: 1dedcba6-e7ea-489f-8b3a-f3ae5d122a42
ORCID for Paul Smart: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9989-5307

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Date deposited: 06 Sep 2022 18:09
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:04

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Contributors

Author: Paul Smart ORCID iD
Author: Gloria Andrada
Author: Robert Clowes

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