The aim of the article is to outline several valuable elements of Mead’s pragmatist theory of perception in action developed in his The Philosophy of the Act (1938), in order to strengthen the pragmatist legacy of the enactivist approach. In particular, Mead’s theory of perception in action turns out to be a forerunner of sensorimotor enactivist theory. Unlike the latter, however, Mead explicitly refers to imagery as an essential capacity for agency. Nonetheless, the article argues that the ways in which Mead refers to this capacity do not necessarily place it in opposition to enactivist non-representationalism. On the contrary, as a synthetic process of re-presenting of present and past sensorimotor elements, imagery can be seen as the hallmark of a pragmatically inspired sensorimotor enactivist approach that bypasses the opposition between representationalists and non-representationalists.

Baggio, G. (2021). Imagery in action. G. H. Mead’s contribution to sensorimotor enactivism. PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE COGNITIVE SCIENCES, 20(5), 935-955 [10.1007/s11097-021-09784-5].

Imagery in action. G. H. Mead’s contribution to sensorimotor enactivism

Baggio, Guido
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2021-01-01

Abstract

The aim of the article is to outline several valuable elements of Mead’s pragmatist theory of perception in action developed in his The Philosophy of the Act (1938), in order to strengthen the pragmatist legacy of the enactivist approach. In particular, Mead’s theory of perception in action turns out to be a forerunner of sensorimotor enactivist theory. Unlike the latter, however, Mead explicitly refers to imagery as an essential capacity for agency. Nonetheless, the article argues that the ways in which Mead refers to this capacity do not necessarily place it in opposition to enactivist non-representationalism. On the contrary, as a synthetic process of re-presenting of present and past sensorimotor elements, imagery can be seen as the hallmark of a pragmatically inspired sensorimotor enactivist approach that bypasses the opposition between representationalists and non-representationalists.
2021
Baggio, G. (2021). Imagery in action. G. H. Mead’s contribution to sensorimotor enactivism. PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE COGNITIVE SCIENCES, 20(5), 935-955 [10.1007/s11097-021-09784-5].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/393420
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