How embodied cognition is being disembodied

“( Gallagher 2015, pp. 97–98) By appealing solely to the representational mixing of bodily and cognitive information, Gallagher suggests that proponents of ‘moderate’ embodied cognition actually argue for something that is not particularly embodied at all.”

“…may explain its historical resilience, and yet the model has been increasingly challenged from diverse fields of scholarship, including philosophy (Gallagher, 2015; Gangopadhyay & Kiverstein, 2009; Merleau-Ponty, 1964; Noë, 2006; Sheets-Johnstone, 1981), cognitive psychology (Barsalou, 2010; Witt…”

“It considers the brain as part of a larger cognitive system, including the body’s nervous system and sensorimotor capabilities (Gallagher, 2015b), suggesting separation of body and brain is artificial.”

“Compared to the action cognition links (e.g. Cook et al., 2007), very few studies examined emotions as a component of cognition beyond mere discussion (Danziger et al., 2011; Gallagher, 2015).”

“Embodiment is based on the premise that the brain and body are intrinsically coupled (Gallagher, 2015).”

“Instead, the body is seen as a dynamic entity where the neurophysiological processes (living body) and also processes of experiencing (lived body) are intertwined and interact dynamically with the environment (Gallagher, 2015; Fuchs, 2020; Lindblom, 2020).”

“At this end of the spectrum, the understanding of others’ intentions and actions as dependent on the mirror mechanisms in the brain (see Gallese et al., 2004; Glenberg & Gallese, 2012) has been heavily criticized and highlighted as a way to disembody embodiment (Gallagher, 2015).”

“…specifically: The above characterizations are compatible with explanatory approaches that adopt functionalist or folk approaches used everywhere else in the discipline (see also Gallagher, 2015), giving cognitive neuroscientists little reason to adopt the framework of Embodied Cognition.”

“The result has been an exceedingly superficial appropriation of embodiment – one that is incapable of engaging with its more radical possibilities (Gallagher, 2015).”

“Because the brain is attuned to what the body and the environment afford (Gallagher, 2015), restrictive environments leading to overly-prescribed ways of moving and acting in the world can impact the whole system.”

“This was a crucial step in our evolution, as underlined by Gallagher (2015), as well as by Vaughan (2003, p. 99): ‘‘If humans had not attained the upright posture [.]”

“As Shaun Gallagher (2015) asserts, To discount the actual physical body and its various properties and capabilities, or the physical and social environment (which is, at the same time, to discount evolution, development, brain plasticity, and the very real constraints of physical existence), is to offer an oversimplif…”

“This approach posits four basic principles: (1) the body, including brain and sensorimotor capabilities, supports cognition(embodiment) [11]; (2) organisms interact with both the physical environment on the basis of the possibilities (affordances) available [12,13] and the social-cultural environment (embedded) [14];…”

“In a similar vein, Gallagher (2014) warns against a version of embodied cognition that leaves the body out of it— placing instead all the essential action of cognition in the brain.”

“They focus on a special understanding of the “body schema” in order to understand how cognitive processes like visual perception arise (Gallagher, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015; Krois, 2011).”

“With the emergence of embodied approach (Gallagher, 2015), the relationship between body and CI is a burgeoning issue that has been widely concerned.”

“All 4E perspectives generally agree that cognition involves some degree of person-environment coupling, the debate between (and within) the perspectives is whether – and, if so, to what extent – cognition involves mental representation (Chemero, 2009, p. 43; Gallagher, 2015, p. 1).”

“…spatiality isn ’ t about position, but about situation (Gallagher 2009, 41-42), constrained by the particular possibilities of our bodies, which are “ primarily designed for action … The brain attunes itself to what the body and the environment affords ” (Gallagher 2015, 100, italics in original).”

“Gallagher (2015) likens the popularity of E-proposals of this sort that posit only bodily-formatted representations of the body to a kind of philosophical invasion of the body snatchers that involves as he puts it, a “contentious appropriation of the term ‘embodied cognition’ by theories that…”

“Gallagher points out that in this context there is no real important role for the body itself (Gallagher 2015a; 2015b).”