Embodied Cognition

by Lawrence A. Shapiro

Embodied cognition often challenges standard cognitive science. In this outstanding introduction, Lawrence Shapiro sets out the central themes and debates surrounding embodied cognition, explaining and assessing the work of many of the key figures in the field, including George Lakoff, Alva Noë, Andy Clark, and Arthur Glenberg. Beginning with an outline of the theoretical and methodological commitments of standard cognitive science, Shapiro then examines philosophical and empirical arguments surrounding the traditional perspective. He introduces topics such as dynamic systems theory, ecological psychology, robotics, and connectionism, before addressing core issues in philosophy of mind such as mental representation and extended cognition. Including helpful chapter summaries and annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Embodied Cognition is essential reading for all students of philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive science.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Linguistics

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2010

About the author

Lawrence ("Larry") Shapiro is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States. His research focuses in the philosophy of psychology. He also works in both the philosophy of mind, and philosophy of biology.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I'd give the book a 3.5 stars rating.
While being a good overall introduction to the lay of the land, the book does more or less justice to regions and features of this landscape, in some degree because of the inevitable biases and partisanship that authors bring to their works.

For me it helped to complement this book with additional reading to get a wider view over the landscape and it's contested regions (and yes I know I'm using a metaphor in a book review).
Complementary readings I advise:
Anthony Chemero (2009) Radical Embodied Cognitive Science
Andy Clark (1998) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again
Shaun Gallagher (2006) How the Body Shapes the Mind
Mark Johnson (2007) The Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics of Human Understanding
Alva Noë (2006) Action in Perception

Furthermore, take a look at these two lists:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

[Bryan Kibbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put, this is an excellent book on the subject of embodied cognition, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who has an interest in issues of embodied cognition. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you are someone that is reading people like Thompson, Rowlands, Clark, Wilson, Noe, Varela, Thelen, Lakoff, etc. then this is required reading. Shapiro expertly lays out the varied terrain of embodied cognition accounts and adeptly advances both defenses and criticisms of the various positions while all along framing his analyses within an overarching decision tree. I found his writing to be both incisive and insightful. In a field that is not a stranger to jargon, Shapiro presents an accessible text where he either explains difficult terminology or otherwise simply avoids terminology that would lead to distracting tangents. I am sure that I will continue to return to this text and future writing by Shapiro.

[Sylvia]

Embodied cognition is a fascinating topic - brain, body and environment act as a unified entity. No more "brain is a computer". Shapiro presents theory and research in this book.

[Lakmus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good intro to embodied cognition, the author does a good job of balancing the arguments put forward by the proponents of the approach against the objections of the critics. Really wish there was a book like this for my own area of research for when I was starting out.

[Maud van Lier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent and clear introduction with a relevant and justified standpoint in the end.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this book after listening to Ginger Campbell's Brain Science Podcast interview with Lawrence Shapiro on embodied cognition. The podcast was engaging and thought provoking. This book was neither, in my case. Filled with algorithms and calculations and mathy references, I just did not care for it, which was disappointing after the audio interview promoting Shapiro's new title was so excellent.

[Tom]

this is a really good reading!

[Matthieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely useful book if you want to become familiar with the field of embodied cognitive science. Particularly Chapter 5 on dynamical systems theory and Chapter 6 on Andy Clark's extended mind hypothesis were very illuminating. I would have given 5 stars if it weren't for a few issues here and there. For example, the statement "Contact without representation is useless." on p. 151 is not substantiated. Given the centrality of the concept of representation in debates between standard and embodied cognitive scientists, seeing such a dogmatic assertion in this otherwise well-balanced book was a little disappointing. Also, the description of James Gibson's ecological approach in Chapter 2 does not really do justice to Gibson. Louise Barrett's book Beyond the Brain does a much better job describing and explaining this framework.