Philosophy

Eidyn Research Centre

Speaker: Rob Rupert (University of Colorado Boulder)

Title: In Defense of a Causal-Clustering Account of the Cognitive Self

Abstract: This talk has three sections. In the first, I present a general account of the cognitive system (one I have defended in the past). According to the view on offer, a cognitive system is a collection of mechanisms that contribute, in overlapping subsets, to a wide variety of forms of intelligent behavior. Central to this approach is the idea of an integrated system, and I provide a formal characterization of the sort of integration at issue based on a measure of how tightly causal contributors cluster together. In the second section, I respond to a series of objections that have been raised in print by Andy Clark, Colin Klein, and Felipe de Brigaard. These concern such diverse matters as modularity, the contrast between causal contributors and background conditions, and the ways in which the human cognitive system changes over its life-cycle. In the final section, I briefly make a case that the causal-clustering account (CCA) of the cognitive system characterizes our strongest candidate for a cognitive self. I make this case partly by arguing for the superiority of CCA over a predictive-processing-based view of the self.

Contact

Mog Stapleton

May 20 2019 -

Eidyn Research Centre

2019-05-20: In Defense of a Causal-Clustering Account of the Cognitive Self

Room 1.20, Dugald Stewart Building, 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD