Recruitment Revisited: Cognitive Extension and the Promise of Predictive Processing

Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 12 (1):16-26 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The extended mind thesis maintains that cognitive processes and systems can, on occasion, stretch to include parts of the brain, body, and world. One outstanding puzzle facing this view is the “recruitment puzzle.” The recruitment puzzle asks how cognisers are able to reliably recruit internal and external resources such that they form extended systems. Andy Clark has recently suggested that predictive processing helps to address this puzzle. I argue that, while promising, Clark’s proposal remains incomplete. I suggest that Clark’s proposal can be productively extended by disambiguating two important senses of recruitment: ready-to-hand and adaptive recruitment. After outlining the recruitment puzzle and Clark’s proposal, I suggest that careful attention to these two senses of recruitment helps to reveal further constructive ways of developing the extended mind thesis.

Author's Profile

Luke Kersten
University of Alberta

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-09-14

Downloads
130 (#94,389)

6 months
130 (#34,693)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?