The logical foundation of Enactivism

Abstract: Enactivism regards itself as the paradigm of cognitive science that puts an end to Representationalism. Representationalism conceives of objective reality as independent from, and prior to the mind. The mind is therefore posited as a secondary representation of the primary reality which creates a dualistic divide between ontology and epistemology. Enactivism conceives of reality and the mind as interdependently arising in unison with each other. The mind is conceived as the activity of the organism in interdependence with its environment. This is how Enactivism believes to end up with a non-dualistic conception of reality that is capable of conceiving of life as evolving autonomously, as opposed to being predetermined by the one objective reality in itself. Enactivism uses the notion of self-reference in order to make sense of this interdependent becoming of the organism and its environment in a dialectically circular fashion. This dialectics of circularity, though, due to...Show moreAbstract: Enactivism regards itself as the paradigm of cognitive science that puts an end to Representationalism. Representationalism conceives of objective reality as independent from, and prior to the mind. The mind is therefore posited as a secondary representation of the primary reality which creates a dualistic divide between ontology and epistemology. Enactivism conceives of reality and the mind as interdependently arising in unison with each other. The mind is conceived as the activity of the organism in interdependence with its environment. This is how Enactivism believes to end up with a non-dualistic conception of reality that is capable of conceiving of life as evolving autonomously, as opposed to being predetermined by the one objective reality in itself. Enactivism uses the notion of self-reference in order to make sense of this interdependent becoming of the organism and its environment in a dialectically circular fashion. This dialectics of circularity, though, due to Enactivism’s existentialistic philosophical roots, is conceived entirely from within the perspective of life itself. Reality in itself is not addressed due to existentialistic fears of ending up with the presupposition of a deterministic thing-initself. I will show that Enactivism nonetheless ends up with the very same dualistic separation between reality itself and mind that is believed to be the cause of Representationalism, precisely because it avoids answering the question of reality in itself (i.e., reality prior to mind and life). In other words, I will show that Enactivism can only be regarded as logically coherent, once we extend this philosophy of 'becoming' into reality in itself. Reconstructing Hegel’s self-referential logic of negation, which I will prove to be the nondual solution to Representationalism, and thereby dualistic thinking as a whole, I will provide a non-dualistic answer to the conception of reality in itself. I will thus show how Enactivism, by avoiding to conceive of reality in itself as selfreferential, inadvertently falls back upon this Dualism. Enactivism falls short of following through on its principle of self-reference, as it restricts this principle to life itself, as opposed to applying it to all of reality. The application of the principle of self-reference to the whole of reality will additionally be shown to be not only in line with but also fulfilling all of Enactivism’s core desiderata, while also giving logical sense to the Buddhistic philosophy of Non-Dualism and Emptiness that is at the very heart of Enactivism’s project of overcoming Representationalism. The result will be a non-dual understanding of reality as the self-referential becoming of the psyche as subjective (i.e., immaterial) change of the object (i.e., matter). This understanding of the psyche will amount to the foundation of a non-dual science of psychology.Show less

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The logical foundation of Enactivism