A Story of Resonance Vicente Raja MA in Philosophy, Universidad de Murcia (Spain) MA in Philosophy, University of Cincinnati (USA) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Chair: Prof. Anthony Chemero May 24th, 2018 Department of Philosophy McMicken College of Arts and Sciences University of Cincinnati Abstract I will tell you a story. A story that is also a theory. A story of embodied cognition that is as well a story of neuroscience. A story about perception, action, and other psychological events. A story about the role of the brain in these events. A story of resonance and an ecological cognitive architecture. Ecological psychology, I contend, must be complemented with a story about the role of the CNS in perception, action, and cognition. To arrive at such a story while staying true to the tenets of ecological psychology, it will be necessary to flesh out the central metaphor according to which organisms perceive their environment by resonating to information in energy patterns: what is needed is a theory of resonance. Here I offer the two main elements of such a theory: a framework (Anderson’s neural reuse) and a methodology based on behavioral and coordination dynamics. In doing so, I examine the significance of embodiment, the explanatory strategy of ecological psychology, the compatibility of different cognitive architectures and ecological psychology, and the plausibility of resonance both in biological and explanatory terms. Finally, I review some future directions for the research on resonance. 2 3 “Such then would be the scope of pragmatism—first, a method; and second, a genetic theory of what is meant by truth” W. James, Pragmatism “We say that we are only criticizing some antiquated, specifically philosophical dogmas. But, of course, what we call dogmas are exactly what our opponents call common sense. Adherence to these dogmas is what they call being rational.” R. Rorty, Philosophy and Social Hope “… sea water, this man is painting the sea with the sea—and it is a thought that brings a shiver.” A. Baricco, Ocean Sea “Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself.” Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind “None should ask you for the name of the one who tells the story.” Blind Guardian, The Bard’s Song 4 Acknowledgements My academic life is a lucky life. During all these years I have had the opportunity of meeting many people that have influenced and keep influencing my thought and my work. I am sure this dissertation would have been different if I had not met all these fantastic friends and scholars. I am in debt with and really grateful to all of them. First, I have to thank the four persons that I take to be my mentors and my major inspiration. The first one of them is my advisor, Tony Chemero. During my years at the grad school, I have lived one of the most awesome experiences a student can live: my favorite alive philosopher has been also my advisor. It is difficult to say to what extent I am influenced by his work and how much I have enjoyed each one of our conversations. To this point, it is not even important that he is obviously wrong about Dio and Black Sabbath, or about The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. I take my dissertation to be just a footnote to his Radical Embodied Cognitive Science. The second one is Paco Calvo. To say that he is one of the main reasons of whatever academic achievement I could make is just an understatement. He was the first person in academia that trusted in me, but not only that. He was the one who introduced me to the field of the cognitive sciences, he taught me the importance of being radical, he gave me the first opportunity to give a talk and to write an academic paper, he has been always smart and 5 supportive… This is a never-ending list. I still talk to him for advice when I have doubts regarding the path to follow. I just hope to be able to eventually work hard enough at the MINT Lab to give back some of his help. The third one is Monica Vilhauer. She was my philosophy professor the first time I came to the US. She taught me how to live philosophy with passion and how to write a philosophical paper. Her classes on Gadamer and Nietzsche are still among my favorite experiences in academia. And, more importantly, it was in her classes when I decided I wanted to follow the path of academia. I just wanted to be as a good philosopher as she is. And the last but not least is Patricio Peñalver. He was the professor of the first class on philosophy I took and a long-lasting influence on me. With him, I learnt that philosophy is interesting, profound, fun, and ironic. He was always willing to argue in class with a smile in his face. I have no doubt that if my first philosophy professor would have been another person, I would not be writing these lines right now. Of course, I have to thank the members of my dissertation committee. Valerie Hardcastle, Tom Polger, and Michael Anderson have made this dissertation to improve to an extent that would have been unimaginable without their questions, challenges, advice, and inspiration. Also, I have to thank the department of philosophy at University of Cincinnati for its support at many levels during the last four years. Both in the department of philosophy and in the department of psychology at University of Cincinnati I have found faculty and staff that have made my years at the grad school to be a great experience. Angela Potochnik, Zvi Biener, Steven Wilson, Larry Jost, John McEvoy, Jenefer Robinson, Heidi Kloos, Mike Riley, Mike Richardson, Kevin Shockley, and Paula Silva have helped me and taught me in innumerable occasions. And very special thanks to Vesna Kocani. The department of philosophy at University of Cincinnati would 6 not be the same without her and I do not know what would have happened to me without her help. All my grad and postgrad fellows deserve a place here. My days at grad school have been infinitely better thanks to my friends Satoshi, Ed, Gui, Chris, Patric, Frank, and Jonathan, and all the hours we have spent discussing about the perils of our ideas. Also, I cannot imagine better people to hang out with or to discuss about philosophy or psychology than Ethan, Louie, Maurice, Patrick, Walter, Richard, Chris, Johan, Kyle, Valentina, Tracy, Alex, Matt, Sahar, Amanda, Cory, Mirabel, Scott, and Jenny. Because of them, I am very happy I chose Cincinnati to pursue my PhD. Hay muchas otras personas a las que estoy muy agradecido por acompañarme en este viaje. Primero, sin duda, a Lore, Manolo, y Miguel. Ellos hacen que seguir pensando en información, percepción, affordances, o cualquier otra cosa sea mucho mas divertido. Y, por supuesto, a Valeria. Ella llegó al final para darle sentido a todo. Si tuviese que elegir qué me quiero llevar al resto de mi vida de mis años estudiando filosofía, ellos esturarían al principio de la lista. Por otra parte, no tengo palabras para describir lo que Chari, Markitos, Franin, y Tomás son para mí. Mejor no digo nada, porque en el fondo ellos ya lo saben. Me gusta ser como soy porque soy un poco como ellos. Tampoco me quiero olvidar de Los Quintos—Frutos, Cañi, Pelli, Chechu, Jose Luis, Pipa, Pep, Fran, y todos los demás—o de Lidia, Ana, Vane, Mari, Inés, mi paya Mari, y todos los que me dejo por ser un desastre. Por supuesto, el mayor de mis agradecimientos es para mi familia. Mis abuelas y abuelos, mis tíos y tías, mis primos y primas, mi hermano… Todos ellos han contribuido de una u otra forma a mi trabajo. Y, sin lugar a duda, mis padres. No hay agradecimiento bastante en este 7 mundo, en universos por descubrir, o en la mayor fantasía que la mente humana pueda imaginar. Mi mayor regalo es que puedan estar orgullosos de mí. I am sure I forget very important people I am grateful to. I hope they can forgive me. The ones here and the ones I am forgetting are fundamental parts of this work. Of course, you should blame them for whatever is wrong in the following lines, but… Who cares? I am happy they are my friends. 8 Table of Contents List of Figures ...............................................................................................................................10 Opening: A Story of Resonance ..................................................................................................11 Chapter 1: Philosophical Maneuvers in Embodiment .............................................................20 1.1 Embodiment .................................................................................................................21 1.2 Gibson ..........................................................................................................................29 1.3 Gibson, Mechanism, and Aristotelianism ....................................................................38 1.4 Further Consequences ..................................................................................................41 Chapter 2: Ecological Psychology and Resonance ....................................................................44 2.1 The Explanatory Strategy of Ecological Psychology ..................................................45 2.2 Resonance ....................................................................................................................53 2.3 Ecological Psychology as Anti-Computationalism .....................................................60 Interlude: The Significance of Embodiment .............................................................................67 I.1 Kepler or the