Intelligence without representation – Merleau-Ponty's critique of mental representation The relevance of phenomenology to scientific explanation
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In this feedback loop, the agent aims toward a more coherent understanding of the situation, the maximal grip, continually adjusting posture, attention, and movements to bring the situation into sharper focus.
“In this feedback loop, the agent aims toward a more coherent understanding of the situation, the maximal grip (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). In this process, the agent continually adjusts its posture, attention, and movements to bring the situation into sharper focus, both perceptually and motorically.”
From Toward Enactive Artificial Intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Dreyfus, 2002
The agent's goals and needs filter which similarities are relevant, constraining the vast space of possible generalizations.
“In other words, it serves to constrain the vast space of possible generalizations: in a world where everything could resemble everything else in countless ways, the agent's goals and needs filter which similarities are relevant (Dreyfus, 2002).”
From Toward Enactive Artificial Intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Dreyfus, 2002
The body does not simply constrain what can be perceived, but provides a structure for understanding the world in terms of action-relevant similarities.
“In this way, the body does not simply constrain what can be perceived, but provides a structure for understanding the world in terms of action-relevant similarities (Dreyfus, 2002).”
From Toward Enactive Artificial Intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Dreyfus, 2002
These refinements are not guided by explicit reasoning but by a bodily sense of tension and relief.
“These refinements are not guided by explicit reasoning but by a bodily sense of tension when the current state deviates from an optimal relation, and by the felt relief that comes with moving closer to that optimal state.”
From Toward Enactive Artificial Intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Dreyfus, 2002
Cites
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1982) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203981139 · Cited by 11,931 · see citing works
Warnock, M., Merleau-Ponty, M., & Smith, C. (1964) · The Philosophical Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2217780 · Cited by 3,172 · see citing works
Dreyfus, H. L., Dreyfus, S. E., Athanasiou, E., & Tom (1986) · Cited by 1,567 · see citing works
Self-citationFreeman, W. J. (1991) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0291-78 · Cited by 905 · see citing works
Hubert Dreyfus, what computers still can't do
McCarthy, J. (1996) · Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/0004-3702(95)00086-0 · Cited by 381 · see citing works
Macdonald, G., Lepore, E., & Gulick, R. V. (1994) · The Philosophical Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2219752 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Schizophrenia, consciousness, and the self
Sass, L. A., & Parnas, J. (2003) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a007017 · Cited by 1,324 · see citing works
A Rich Landscape of Affordances
Rietveld, E., & Kiverstein, J. (2014) · Ecological Psychology · doi:10.1080/10407413.2014.958035 · Cited by 1,160 · see citing works
Embodied Cognition: A field guide
Anderson, M. L. (2003) · Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/s0004-3702(03)00054-7 · Cited by 1,129 · see citing works
The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition
Niedenthal, P. M., Wood, A., & Rychlowska, M. (2014) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315775845 · Cited by 909 · see citing works
Enactive intersubjectivity: Participatory sense-making and mutual incorporation
Fuchs, T. A. E., & Jaegher, H. D. (2009) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-009-9136-4 · Cited by 833 · see citing works
Design Problems and Design Paradoxes
Dorst, K. (2006) · Design Issues · doi:10.1162/desi.2006.22.3.4 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Horizons for the Enactive Mind: Values, Social Interaction, and Play
Paolo, E. A. D., Rohde, M., & Jaegher, H. D. (2010) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262014601.003.0003 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Multiple aspects in the sense of agency
Gallagher, S. (2010) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2010.03.003 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Applying Intelligence to the Reflexes: Embodied Skills and Habits between Dreyfus and Descartes
Sutton, J. D., McIlwain, D. J. F., Christensen, W. D., & Geeves, A. M. (2011) · Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology · doi:10.1080/00071773.2011.11006732 · Cited by 253 · see citing works
Engineering context-aware systems and applications: A survey
Alegre, U., Augusto, J. C., & Clark, T. (2016) · Journal of Systems and Software · doi:10.1016/j.jss.2016.02.010 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
They’ve lost control: reflections on skill
Fridland, E. (2014) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-014-0411-8 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Stolz, S. A. (2014) · Educational Philosophy and Theory · doi:10.1080/00131857.2013.879694 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Batting, Habit and Memory: The Embodied Mind and the Nature of Skill
Sutton, J. D. (2007) · Sport in Society · doi:10.1080/17430430701442462 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Change in international practices
Hopf, T. (2017) · European Journal of International Relations · doi:10.1177/1354066117718041 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
The Dreyfus model of clinical problem-solving skills acquisition: a critical perspective
Peña, A. (2010) · Medical Education Online · doi:10.3402/meo.v15i0.4846 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Experimental Phenomenology: An Introduction
Albertazzi, L. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118329016.ch · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Neurophenomenology: An Introduction for Neurophilosophers
Thompson, E. T., Antoine Lutz, A., & Cosmelli, D. J. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511610608.003 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Reconceiving representation-hungry cognition: an ecological-enactive proposal
Kiverstein, J. D., & Rietveld, E. (2018) · Adaptive Behavior · doi:10.1177/1059712318772778 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Perception as a closed-loop convergence process
Ahissar, E., & Assa, E. (2016) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.12830 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Metaplasticity and the Primacy of Material Engagement
Malafouris, L. (2015) · Time and Mind · doi:10.1080/1751696x.2015.1111564 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Creative <i>thinging</i>: The <i>feeling of</i> and <i>for clay</i>
Malafouris, L. (2014) · Pragmatics & Cognition · doi:10.1075/pc.22.1.08mal · Cited by 145 · see citing works
The evolutionary emergence of what we call “emotions”
Frijda, N. H. (2016) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1145106 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
The Mental Affordance Hypothesis
McClelland, T. (2019) · Mind · doi:10.1093/mind/fzz036 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Designing as Construction of Representations: A Dynamic Viewpoint in Cognitive Design Research
Visser, W. (2006) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1207/s15327051hci2101_4 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Foundations of the Learning Sciences
Nathan, M. J., & Sawyer, R. K. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139519526.004 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Experts and Deviants: The Story of Agentive Control
Wu, W. (2015) · Philosophy and Phenomenological Research · doi:10.1111/phpr.12170 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Sutton, J. D. (2006) · Pragmatics & Cognition · doi:10.1075/pc.14.2.05sut · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Nayak, A., Chia, R., & Canales, J. I. (2019) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2016.0253 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Visual Salience of Algebraic Transformations
Kirshner, D. H., & Awtry, T. (2004) · Journal for Research in Mathematics Education · doi:10.2307/30034809 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Edmund Husserl's Phenomenology of Habituality and Habitus
Moran, D. (2011) · Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology · doi:10.1080/00071773.2011.11006731 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Embodied cognition and body psychotherapy: The construction of new therapeutic environments
Röhricht, F., Gallagher, S., Geuter, U., & Hutto, D. D. (2014) · Sensoria A Journal of Mind Brain and Culture · doi:10.7790/sa.v10i1.389 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Seven Principles to Design for Embodied Sensemaking
Hummels, C., & van Dijk, J. (2015) · International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI) · doi:10.1145/2677199.2680577 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
The two modes of an athlete: dual-process theories in the field of sport
Furley, P., Schweizer, G., & Bertrams, A. (2015) · International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1750984x.2015.1022203 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Beyond distributed representation
van Dijk, J., van der Lugt, R., & Hummels, C. (2014) · International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI) · doi:10.1145/2540930.2540934 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Sources of Embodied Creativity: Interactivity and Ideation in Contact Improvisation
Kimmel, M., Hristova, D., & Kussmaul, K. (2018) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs8060052 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Levels of expertise in design education
Dorst, K., & Reymen, I. M. M. J. (2004) · University of Twente Research Information · Cited by 82 · see citing works
4E Music Pedagogy and the Principles of Self-Organization
Schiavio, A., & van der Schyff, D. (2018) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs8080072 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Phenomenology and Physical Education
Stolz, S. A. (2013) · Educational Philosophy and Theory · doi:10.1080/00131857.2013.785355 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Material Agency, Skills and History: Distributed Cognition and the Archaeology of Memory
Sutton, J. D. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-74711-8_3 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Considering the role of cognitive control in expert performance
Toner, J., Montero, B. G., & Moran, A. P. (2014) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-014-9407-6 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
The Dark Matter of Lab Work: Illuminating the Negotiation of Disciplined Perception in Mechanics
Lindwall, O., & Lymer, G. (2008) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508400801986082 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Rationalizing flow: agency in skilled unreflective action
Brownstein, M. (2013) · Philosophical Studies · doi:10.1007/s11098-013-0143-5 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Customer experience within retail environments
Yakhlef, A. (2015) · Marketing Theory · doi:10.1177/1470593115569016 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Embodiment in Human Communication
Streeck, J. (2015) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102214-014045 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Cuccio, V. (2018) · Metaphor in language, cognition, and communication · doi:10.1075/milcc.7 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Coordinating visualizations of polysemous action: values added for grounding proportion
Abrahamson, D., Lee, R. G., Negrete, A. G., & Gutiérrez, J. F. (2013) · ZDM · doi:10.1007/s11858-013-0521-7 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
4E cognition and the dogma of harmony
Aagaard, J. (2021) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2020.1845640 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Breivik, G. (2012) · Journal of the Philosophy of Sport · doi:10.1080/00948705.2012.725890 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Robins, S. K. (2016) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2015.1113245 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
The Primacy of Skilled Intentionality: on Hutto & Satne’s the Natural Origins of Content
Kiverstein, J. D., & Rietveld, E. (2015) · Philosophia · doi:10.1007/s11406-015-9645-z · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Philosophical issues: phenomenology
Thompson, E. T., & Zahavi, D. (2007) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816789.005 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Enactive Music Cognition: Background and Research Themes
Matyja, J. R., & Schiavio, A. (2013) · Constructivist Foundations · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Are Minimal Representations Still Representations?1
Gallagher, S. (2008) · International Journal of Philosophical Studies · doi:10.1080/09672550802113243 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
O’Connor, C. (2016) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/jtsb.12110 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Choking RECtified: embodied expertise beyond Dreyfus
Hutto, D. D., & García, R. S. (2014) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-014-9380-0 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Interpersonal Connectivity Work: Being there with and for geographically distant others
Hafermalz, E., & Riemer, K. (2020) · Organization Studies · doi:10.1177/0170840620973664 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Epistemological Problems of Perception
Lyons, J. (2016) · ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) · Cited by 66 · see citing works
How does thinking relate to tool making?
Malafouris, L. (2020) · Adaptive Behavior · doi:10.1177/1059712320950539 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Fridland, E. (2015) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-014-0617-9 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Special Section: The Skillful Body as a Concernful System of Possible Actions
Rietveld, E. (2008) · Theory & Psychology · doi:10.1177/0959354308089789 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Toner, J., & Moran, A. P. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00769 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Paolo, E. A. D., Barandiaran, X. E., Beaton, M., & Bührmann, T. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00551 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
A process-philosophical understanding of organizational learning as “wayfinding”
Chia, R. (2017) · The Learning Organization · doi:10.1108/tlo-11-2016-0083 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Optimal Grip on Affordances in Architectural Design Practices: An Ethnography
Rietveld, E., & Brouwers, A. A. (2017) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-016-9475-x · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Media multitasking, attention, and distraction: a critical discussion
Aagaard, J. (2014) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-014-9375-x · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Teleplastic technologies: charting practices of orientation and navigation in videogaming
Ash, J. (2010) · Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers · doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2010.00389.x · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Bermúdez, J. P. (2017) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2017.1325457 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Embodied Cognition, Representationalism, and Mechanism: A Review and Analysis
Spackman, J. S., & Yanchar, S. C. (2013) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/jtsb.12028 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Practice innovation as bodily skills: the example of elderly home care service delivery
Yakhlef, A., & Essén, A. (2012) · Organization · doi:10.1177/1350508412458535 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Barnett, C. (2011) · Progress in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/0309132510397463 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Phenomenology as Description and as Explanation: The Case of Schizophrenia
Sass, L. A. (2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2646-0_31 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Froese, T., & Gallagher, S. (2010) · Husserl Studies · doi:10.1007/s10743-010-9071-9 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
McDowell and Dreyfus on Unreflective Action
Rietveld, E. (2010) · Inquiry · doi:10.1080/00201741003612203 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Hardisty, A., Peirce, S., Preece, A. D., Bolton, C. E., Conley, E. C., Gray, W. A., RANA, O. F., Yousef, Z. R., & Elwyn, G. J. (2011) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2011.07.002 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Is the philosophy of mechanism philosophy enough?
Moss, L. (2011) · Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2011.05.015 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Conscious Action/Zombie Action
Shepherd, J. (2015) · Noûs · doi:10.1111/nous.12086 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
To Think or Not To Think: The apparent paradox of expert skill in music performance
Geeves, A. M., McIlwain, D. J. F., Sutton, J. D., & Christensen, W. D. (2013) · Educational Philosophy and Theory · doi:10.1080/00131857.2013.779214 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Does reflection lead to wise choices?
Bortolotti, L. (2011) · Philosophical Explorations · doi:10.1080/13869795.2011.594962 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Enactive Ethics: Difference Becoming Participation
Di Paolo, E. A., & De Jaegher, H. (2022) · Topoi · doi:10.1007/s11245-021-09766-x · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Aggerholm, K., Jespersen, E., & Ronglan, L. T. (2011) · Sport Ethics and Philosophy · doi:10.1080/17511321.2011.602589 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Becoming skilled: The cultural and corporeal geographies of teaching and learning Thai Yoga massage
Lea, J. (2009) · Geoforum · doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.03.005 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Moral agency, self-consciousness, and practical wisdom
Gallagher, S. (2007) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Moe, V. F. (2005) · Journal of the Philosophy of Sport · doi:10.1080/00948705.2005.9714680 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Habits, skills and embodied experiences: a contribution to philosophy of physical education
Standal, Ø. F., & Aggerholm, K. (2016) · Sport Ethics and Philosophy · doi:10.1080/17511321.2016.1220972 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Goalkeeping in the soccer penalty kick
van der Kamp, J., Dicks, M., Navia, J. A., & Noël, B. (2018) · German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research · doi:10.1007/s12662-018-0506-3 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Bodily Affects as Prenoetic Elements in Enactive Perception
Bower, M. E. M., & Gallagher, S. (2016) · Phenomenology and Mind · doi:10.13128/phe_mi-19591 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
What’s Inside Your Head Once You’ve Figured Out What Your Head’s Inside Of
Bruineberg, J., & Rietveld, E. (2019) · Ecological Psychology · doi:10.1080/10407413.2019.1615204 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Mahler, M. (2011) · Ethnography · doi:10.1177/1466138110392470 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
van Dijk, J. (2018) · Multimodal Technologies and Interaction · doi:10.3390/mti2010007 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Towards a dual process epistemology of imagination
Stuart, M. T. (2019) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-019-02116-w · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Thorburn, M. (2008) · European Physical Education Review · doi:10.1177/1356336x08090709 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Singh, P. (2020) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2020.1743258 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Mind-upload. The ultimate challenge to the embodied mind theory
Cappuccio, M. L. (2016) · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11097-016-9464-0 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Sutela, K., Juntunen, M.-L., & Ojala, J. (2019) · British Journal of Music Education · doi:10.1017/s0265051719000184 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Hadjimichael, D., Ribeiro, R., & Tsoukas, H. (2024) · Organization Studies · doi:10.1177/01708406241228374 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Yanchar, S. C., & Hawkley, M. (2014) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-014-9336-7 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Steiner, P. (2014) · Avant · doi:10.26913/50202014.0109.0003 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
How does a word become a message? An illustration on a developmental time-scale
Rączaszek‐Leonardi, J. (2015) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2015.08.001 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Turning distaste into taste: context-specific habitus and the practical congruity of culture
Cornelissen, S. (2016) · Theory and Society · doi:10.1007/s11186-016-9280-0 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
A Phenomenology of the 'Placebo Effect': Taking Meaning from the Mind to the Body
Frenkel, O. (2008) · The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine · doi:10.1093/jmp/jhm005 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dreyfus, H. L.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dreyfus, Hubert L.
- Venue
- Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences
- Published
- 2002-12
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 367-383
- ISSN
- 1568-7759 (ISSN-L)
- 1572-8676
- OpenAlex
- W324585127
- Cited by
- 569
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 2.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Keywords
- Merleau-Ponty, phenomenology of perception, mental representation, embodied cognition, skill acquisition, learning, scientific explanation, artificial neural networks, Walter Freeman, brain dynamics, perception and action, body and world
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
