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

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Other developments in cognitive science provide deeper challenges to the multiple-levels<br />

approach. As has been outlined in this chapter, the notion <strong>of</strong> multiple<br />

levels <strong>of</strong> explanation in cognitive science is directly linked to two key ideas: 1) that<br />

information processing devices invite and require this type <strong>of</strong> explanation, and 2)<br />

that cognition is a prototypical example <strong>of</strong> information processing. Recent developments<br />

in cognitive science represent challenges to these key ideas. For instance,<br />

embodied cognitive science takes the position that cognition is not information processing<br />

<strong>of</strong> the sort that involves the rule-governed manipulation <strong>of</strong> mentally represented<br />

worlds; it is instead the control <strong>of</strong> action on the world (Chemero, 2009;<br />

Clark, 1997, 1999; Noë, 2004, 2009; Robbins & Aydede, 2009). Does the multiplelevels<br />

approach apply if the role <strong>of</strong> cognition is radically reconstrued?<br />

Churchland, Koch, & Sejnowski. (1990, p. 52) suggested that “[‘]which really<br />

are the levels relevant to explanation in the nervous system[’] is an empirical, not<br />

an a priori, question.” One <strong>of</strong> the themes <strong>of</strong> the current book is to take this suggestion<br />

to heart by seeing how well the same multiple levels <strong>of</strong> investigation can<br />

be applied to the three major perspectives in modern cognitive science: classical,<br />

connectionist, and embodied. In the next three chapters, I begin this pursuit by<br />

using the multiple levels introduced in Chapter 2 to investigate the nature <strong>of</strong> classical<br />

cognitive science (Chapter 3), connectionist cognitive science (Chapter 4), and<br />

embodied cognitive science (Chapter 5). Can the multiple levels <strong>of</strong> investigation be<br />

used to reveal principles that unify these three different and frequently mutually<br />

antagonistic approaches? Or is modern cognitive science beginning to fracture in a<br />

fashion similar to what has been observed in experimental psychology?<br />

54 Chapter 2

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