Final Report Summary - COGNITION IN SCIENCE (Science as extended cognition: The role of material culture in scientific reasoning)
Historical and sociological studies have repeatedly shown the importance of scientists’ engagement with the material dimension of scientific practice, including external representations, tools, and the physical layout of the laboratory. And yet philosophical accounts typically assume these aspects of science to be incidental to scientific reasoning itself. Recent developments in cognitive science challenge this assumption, revealing that many cognitive tasks are performed not by internal thought processes alone, but by the interaction of the brain, body and environment. In fact, according to the thesis of extended cognition, the relationship between internal thought processes and external objects is sometimes so close that external objects become part of the cognitive process itself. The aim of this project was to explore the implications of extended cognition for our understanding of scientific reasoning.
Drawing on the existing literature on extended cognition in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, the project developed a range of novel theoretical notions for analysing the role of material culture in science. For example, the project offered a new analysis of the use of instruments in science by drawing on the concept of extended perception. It also showed that scientific concepts may sometimes be realised not only in the scientists’ head, but in her skilful interaction with material devices such as field guides and computer databases. The project also demonstrated that even scientific understanding—often taken to be a paradigmatically internal state—can sometimes extend outside the brain to external devices, such as formulas, graphs and diagrams. These novel theoretical notions provide the basis for a new understanding of scientific inquiry that reveals the crucial role of material culture in realising scientists’ cognitive processes and mental states.
In addition to pointing towards a new analysis of the nature of scientists’ cognitive processes and mental states, the project also showed that the notion of extended cognition has far-reaching implications for longstanding issues in philosophy of science. For example, the idea that the use of scientific instruments involves extended perception challenges existing views of the role of instruments in the creation of scientific knowledge. At the same time, the notion of extended concepts points towards a new understanding of concept acquisition, conceptual structure and conceptual change in science, while the project’s analysis of extended understanding suggests a new picture of the nature of scientific understanding and its relationship to explanation in science.
The enormous intellectual, cultural and practical significance of science in contemporary societies means that the results of this project reach beyond a narrow, academic audience. In addition to academic articles and presentations, the results of the project were also incorporated into a number of outreach activities. These outreach activities included school visits, a public exhibition, and a workshop that combined lectures and group activities with a hands-on demonstration of devices that aim to extend our perceptual capacities by allowing us to “see” by exploiting tactile feedback. Each of these outreach activities brought the project’s findings to a broader audience and explored a new way of thinking about the nature of scientific inquiry.
Drawing on the existing literature on extended cognition in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, the project developed a range of novel theoretical notions for analysing the role of material culture in science. For example, the project offered a new analysis of the use of instruments in science by drawing on the concept of extended perception. It also showed that scientific concepts may sometimes be realised not only in the scientists’ head, but in her skilful interaction with material devices such as field guides and computer databases. The project also demonstrated that even scientific understanding—often taken to be a paradigmatically internal state—can sometimes extend outside the brain to external devices, such as formulas, graphs and diagrams. These novel theoretical notions provide the basis for a new understanding of scientific inquiry that reveals the crucial role of material culture in realising scientists’ cognitive processes and mental states.
In addition to pointing towards a new analysis of the nature of scientists’ cognitive processes and mental states, the project also showed that the notion of extended cognition has far-reaching implications for longstanding issues in philosophy of science. For example, the idea that the use of scientific instruments involves extended perception challenges existing views of the role of instruments in the creation of scientific knowledge. At the same time, the notion of extended concepts points towards a new understanding of concept acquisition, conceptual structure and conceptual change in science, while the project’s analysis of extended understanding suggests a new picture of the nature of scientific understanding and its relationship to explanation in science.
The enormous intellectual, cultural and practical significance of science in contemporary societies means that the results of this project reach beyond a narrow, academic audience. In addition to academic articles and presentations, the results of the project were also incorporated into a number of outreach activities. These outreach activities included school visits, a public exhibition, and a workshop that combined lectures and group activities with a hands-on demonstration of devices that aim to extend our perceptual capacities by allowing us to “see” by exploiting tactile feedback. Each of these outreach activities brought the project’s findings to a broader audience and explored a new way of thinking about the nature of scientific inquiry.