Intertheory Relations in Cognitive Science: Privileged Levels and Reductive Strategies
Research in cognitive science has often assumed the existence of a privileged level that unifies theoretical explanations arising from different disciplines. Philosophical accounts differ about the locus of those intertheory relations. In this paper, four different views are analyzed: classical, co...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Crítica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://critica.filosoficas.unam.mx/index.php/critica/article/view/427 |
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| Summary: | Research in cognitive science has often assumed the existence of a privileged level that unifies theoretical explanations arising from different disciplines. Philosophical accounts differ about the locus of those intertheory relations. In this paper, four different views are analyzed: classical, connectionist, pragmatist, and reductionist, as exemplified in the works of von Eckardt, Horgan and Tienson, Hardcastle, and Bickle, respectively. Their divergences are characterized in terms of the possibility of such a privileged level. The classical view favors a privileged computational level. The connectionist revision tries to draw biological intuitions into computational models to provide a link between neuronsand computations. The pragmatist approach rejects the idea of a privileged level and offers a more eclectic view of cognitive theory building. The reductionist account pursues theoretical unification by means of the reduction of higher level theories to basic level (biological) ones.
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| ISSN: | 0011-1503 1870-4905 |