April 4
– Rafael Nunez (Introduction) “So
What is ‘Embodiment,’ Really? Trends, Debates, Issues and How to Figure
this
Out”
For the last two decades, the term
"embodied”—as in "embodied cognition", "embodied
learning", and "embodied communication"—has become very
fashionable in areas investigating the mind, such as psychology,
linguistics,
anthropology, design, human computer interaction, mathematics
education,
robotics, somatics, artificial intelligence, and, of course, cognitive
science.
But, what is embodiment? A philosophical view? A theoretical approach?
A methodological
technique? A review of the literature shows that it is a very
polysemous term.
There are, indeed, many different—although somewhat related, concepts
of
embodiment. Some differences are the result of natural differences in
focus and
methodology among the various disciplines, often leading to mutually
consistent
views. But some differences are much deeper, resulting from mutually
inconsistent postulates and theoretical assumptions. In this
introductory
presentation I won't try to propose a unification of the concept of
embodiment
(basically an impossible task), but rather, I'll present an overview of
the
work done under the umbrella of embodiment. I’ll analyze a taxonomy
that may
help clarifying what is involved in the various concepts of
“embodiment” and
the work they sustain.