LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES

1)                 Knowledge and Understanding

Students will gain knowledge of the main topics in the debate on embodied cognition, from its philosophical roots to its interdisciplinary dialogue with cognitive sciences. They will develop the ability to identify and compare the central claims of the enactivist paradigm, both at its origins and in contemporary discussions.

2)                 Applying Knowledge and Understanding

Students will be able to engage with the key issues of a philosophical and interdisciplinary debate, not only from a historical perspective but also through thematic analysis, by comparing the arguments and positions of the main authors in the field. They will also be able to identify philosophical theses and arguments in a classic text, recognize argumentative texts, describe their structure, and detect any fallacies or invalid reasoning.

3)                 Making Judgements

Students will develop the ability to reflect independently on the discipline's core issues and to take a reasoned stance on a given thesis and its supporting arguments.

4)                 Communication Skills

Through engagement with philosophical texts of various kinds (e.g., textbooks vs. classics), students will acquire the ability to clearly present their own arguments and critically discuss those of others, both in specialist and interdisciplinary contexts.

5)               Learning Skills

Students will acquire the necessary tools to further their study of the philosophy of language and cognitive sciences independently and critically. This includes the ability to paraphrase complex texts, compare opposing theses, and critically assess or refute an argument.

Module A (Antonino Bondì) presents, discusses and contextualizes the contemporary debate on the “enactive paradigm” using the chosen reference text (Gallese V., Morelli U. (2024). Che cosa significa essere umani? Corpo, cervello e relazione per vivere nel presente, Raffaello Cortina 2024). The aim of the module is to critically discuss the state of the art and the contemporary debate on the enactivist perspective. Using the text as a guide, we will explore the specific themes and main concepts of enactive theories (embodiment, body, relationship, perception-action-movement, etc., imagination). In addition, the enactivist model of cognition will be compared with some alternative models of cognition (computationalism, representationalism) to highlight their respective debates, problems and responses. Finally, we will explore the interdisciplinary “fields” in which the enactivist paradigm fits: the domain of linguistic theories, aesthetics, education, symbolic behaviour analysis, etc.

Gallese V., Morelli U. (2024). Cosa significa essere umani. Corpo, cervello e relazione per vivere nel presente. Raffaello Cortina Editore, pp. 291.

Varela F., Rosh E., Thompson E. (2024). La mente nel corpo. Casa Editrice Astrolabio, pp. 374.

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