Introduction: Memory, Embodied Cognition, and the Extended Mind

Abstract

I introduce the seven papers in this special issue, by Andy Clark, Jérôme Dokic, Richard Menary, Jenann Ismael, Sue Campbell, Doris McIlwain, and Mark Rowlands. This paper explains the motivation for an alliance between the sciences of memory and the extended mind hypothesis. It examines in turn the role of worldly, social, and internalized forms of scaffolding to memory and cognition, and also highlights themes relating to affect, agency, and individual differences.

Keywords:

• Memory
• Embodied Cognition
• Extended Mind
• Autobiography
• Affect
• Agency

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to everyone who helped with running the original workshops, and with this special issue, especially Tim Bayne, Wayne Christensen, Russell Downham, Jordi Fernandez, Philip Gerrans, Oliver Granger, Mitchell Herschbach, Cees van Leeuwen, Catriona Mackenzie, Peter Menzies, Anne Monchamp, Monte Pemberton, Huw Price, and Carl Windhorst. Many thanks too to the Australian Research Council, the Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy at Macquarie University, the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney, and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects for their generous support of the workshops.

Notes

Note

[1] Other papers from the workshops have been published in special issues of Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture, 2 (2), September 2005; and Cognitive Processing: International Quarterly of Cognitive Science, 6 (4), December 2005.