Mind, Body, World- Foundations of Cognitive Science, 2013a

9
Towards a Cognitive Dialectic
9.0 Chapter Overview
In the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel, ideas developed by following a dialectical progression.
They began as theses that attempted to explain some truth; deficiencies
in theses permitted alternative ideas to be formulated. These alternatives, or
antitheses, represented the next stage of the progression. A final stage, synthesis,
approached truth by creating an emergent combination of elements from theses
and antitheses. It has been argued that cognitive science provides an example of a
dialectical progression. The current chapter begins by casting classical cognitive science
as the thesis and considering both connectionist cognitive science and embodied
cognitive science as viable antitheses. This argument is supported by reviewing
some of the key differences amongst these three approaches. What remains is considering
whether synthesis of these various approaches is possible.
Some of the arguments from previous chapters, including the possibility of
hybrid accounts of cognition, are used to support the claim that synthesis in cognitive
science is possible, though it has not yet been achieved. It is further argued
that one reason synthesis has been impeded is because modern cognitivism, which
exemplifies the classical approach, arose as a violent reaction against behaviourist
psychology. Some of the core elements of cognitive antitheses, such as exploiting
associations between ideas as well as invoking environmental control, were
also foundations of the behaviourist school of thought. It is suggested that this has
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