On the use of evolutionary mismatch theories in debating human prosociality.

According to some evolutionary theorists human prosocial dispositions emerged in a context of inter-group competition and violence that made our psychology parochially prosocial, ie. cooperative towards in-groups and competitive towards strangers. This evolutionary hypothesis is sometimes employed in bioethical debates to argue that human nature and contemporary environments, and especially large-scale societies, are mismatched. In this article we caution against the use of mismatch theories in moral philosophy in general and discuss empirical evidence that puts into question mismatch theories based on parochial prosociality. Evolutionary mismatch theories play at best a rhetorical role in these moral debates and may misrepresent the status of relevant evolutionary research. We finally recommend that moral philosophers interested in the evolutionary literature also engage with dispositions such as xenophilia and social tolerance to counterbalance the focus on psychological mismatches adopted so far.

Cognición corporizada y comprensión semántica / Embodied Cognition and Semantic Comprehension / Cognição corporizada e compreensão semântica

Resumen Esta reflexión está orientada a presentar los avances en el estudio de la naturaleza del lenguaje con énfasis en los procesos de comprensión semántica, desde las teorías corporizadas y motrices de la cognición. Se establecen los lineamientos principales que sostienen dichas teorías y su aporte al área de las ciencias del lenguaje y la psicolingüística. En un primer apartado se resumen las ideas fundacionales de la teoría corporizada y enactiva, y se definen las propuestas sobre el lenguaje desde esta postura, para presentar, de manera general, el movimiento de la semántica corporizada. Posteriormente, se retoman estos planteamientos para relacionarlos con los problemas en el procesamiento de lenguaje de los pacientes con enfermedad de Parkinson. Esta enfermedad neurológica, al estar asociada con déficits motores y del movimiento voluntario, resulta una plataforma ideal para la validación de teorías que sugieren una estrecha relación entre la actividad motriz en contexto, la neurofisiología de la acción y los procesos de comprensión lingüística.

Abstract This review and analysis of the literature aims to show in a brief manner the recent findings in the study of the nature of language and semantic comprehension from the embodied and motor theories of cognition. The guidelines that uphold the embodied and enactive theories of cognition and their role for the study of language in psycholinguistics are established, as it is becoming common to find increasing support for them. In a first part of the article the main principles of the theory are shared as well as the different ideas about language that have been proposed under the name of embodied semantics. Then, the case of Parkinson's disease and language processing impairments in Parkinson's patients is taken as a critical case. This neurological disease associated with voluntary movement and motor deficits, is ideal for validating theories that propose a close relationship between motor activity in context, as well as the neurophysiology of action and the processes of understanding language.

Resumo Esta reflexão sobre resultados de literatura tem como finalidade presentar os avances recentes no estudo da natureza da linguagem com ênfase nos processos de compreensão semântica desde as teorias corporizadas e motrizes da cognição. São estabelecidos os lineamentos principais que sustentam as teorias mencionadas e seu aporte à área das ciências da linguagem e a psicolinguística. Na primeira parte são resumidas as ideias fundacionais da teoria corporizada e enativa, são definidas as diferentes propostas sobre a linguagem e o significado que existem desde esta postura, para apresentar, de maneira geral, o movimento da semântica corporizada. Depois, são retomadas estas ideias em relação com os problemas no processamento da linguagem que padecem os pacientes com doença de Parkinson. Esta doença neurológica, ao estar associada com déficits motores e do movimento voluntário, supõe uma plataforma ideal para a validação de teorias que propõem uma relação estreita entre a atividade motriz em contexto, a neurofisiologia da ação e os processos de compreensão linguística.

Neurofenomenología. Proyecto para una ciencia de la experiencia vivida / Neurophenomenology: project for a science of past experiences

Introducción: La ciencia cognitiva, desde mediados del siglo XX, es reconocida ampliamente como el área de convergencia genuina de todos los avances científicos relacionados con el estudio de la mente humana y los mecanismos que posibilitan el conocimiento. Se ha constituido desde entonces como un espacio multidisciplinar, en el que los intereses investigativos de diferentes actores y disciplinas han adquirido carta de ciudadanía, y han permitido novedosas esperanzas respecto al estudio de las particularidades humanas desde Perspectivas científicas. Objetivos: Este trabajo propone evaluar críticamente la inclusión de discusiones que la biología teórica ha estado asumiendo en su discurso, respecto al estudio del fenómeno cognitivo; principal atención merece el proyecto enactivo, y de manera extensiva, la neurofenomenología de Francisco J. Varela. Desarrollo: A través de una corta y comprimida historia de la ciencia cognitiva estableceremos los puntos clave para entender el surgimiento de la postura enactiva y el giro corporizado influido por la fenomenología continental en la ciencia cognitiva, así como los lineamientos generales de la neurofenomenología. Conclusiones: El problema duro de la conciencia aún se enfrenta a varios reduccionismos, que relegan lo cognitivo a un tipo de mecanismo exclusivamente racional, individualizado, abstracto e incorpóreo, lo que ha permitido el fortalecimiento del paradigma funcionalista en la filosofía de la mente. Una solución a las dicotomías clásicas en las ciencias de la mente debe empezar, a nuestro parecer, con un rechazo a estas asunciones…

Introduction: Since the middle of 20th Century, cognitive science has been recognized as the genuine convergence field for all scientific advances in human mind studies with the mecha-nisms enabling knowledge. Since then, it has become a multidisciplinary area where several research disciplines and actors have acquired citizenship, allowing new expectations on the scientific study of human uniqueness. Objectives: Critical assessment of the discussion that the discourse of theoretical biology has been assuming regarding the study of the cognitive phenomenon with special attention to the enactive project and, extensively, to the neuro-phenomenology of Francisco J. Varela. Methods: Starting with a brief and synthesized history of cognitive science, we will establish the key principles for understanding the emergence of the enactive paradigm and the “embodied” turn influenced by continental phenomenology in the cognitive science, as well as the general guidelines of Neurophenomenology. Conclusions: The “hard problem” of consciousness still faces several types of reductionism relegating the cognitive issue to a kind of merely rational, individual, abstract and disembodied mechanism, thus strengthening the functionalist paradigm in mind philosophy. A solution to classic dichotomies in mind sciences must start rejecting such assumptions…

[Neurophenomenology: Project for a Science of Past Experiences]. / Neurofenomenología. Proyecto para una ciencia de la experiencia vivida.

INTRODUCTION: Since the middle of 20(th) Century, cognitive science has been recognized as the genuine convergence field for all scientific advances in human mind studies with the mechanisms enabling knowledge. Since then, it has become a multidisciplinary area where several research disciplines and actors have acquired citizenship, allowing new expectations on the scientific study of human uniqueness. OBJECTIVES: Critical assessment of the discussion that the discourse of theoretical biology has been assuming regarding the study of the cognitive phenomenon with special attention to the enactive project and, extensively, to the neuro-phenomenology of Francisco J. Varela. METHODS: Starting with a brief and synthesized history of cognitive science, we will establish the key principles for understanding the emergence of the enactive paradigm and the "embodied" turn influenced by continental phenomenology in the cognitive science, as well as the general guidelines of Neurophenomenology. CONCLUSIONS: The "hard problem" of consciousness still faces several types of reductionism relegating the cognitive issue to a kind of merely rational, individual, abstract and disembodied mechanism, thus strengthening the functionalist paradigm in mind philosophy. A solution to classic dichotomies in mind sciences must start rejecting such assumptions.