If we are exploring post-cognitive approaches to cognition, it seems appropriate to begin with some landmarks that will allow us to identify its counterpart, cognitivism. This cannot aspire to any kind of systematicity, but can only hope to provide a launch pad to get the discussion going. A brief discussion of the term “cognitivism” is provided in the first blog post.
Required reading this week comes from the first two chapters of this book: Fuchs, T. (2017). Ecology of the brain: The phenomenology and biology of the embodied mind. Oxford University Press.
Further reading on the topic includes the following:
Dewey, J. (1896). The reflex arc concept in psychology. Psychological review, 3(4), 357.
This influential paper from 1896 laments the theoretical framework that is becoming established that leads to a view of the person as an input/output system. The critique is of consequence to many later developments, including both behaviourism and cognitive psychology.
If you like some polemic, here are 25 Theses Against Cognitivism by Jeff Coulter (Theory, Culture & Society 2008 (SAGE, Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore), Vol. 25(2): 19–32)
Costall, A. (2006). ‘Introspectionism’and the mythical origins of scientific psychology.Consciousness and Cognition, 15(4), 634-654.
This article is perhaps not nearly as well known, but it serves to caution us against telling overly simplistic historical accounts of developments in psychology.
Beyond Solipsism 