The action-based brain: a provocation to philosophy, robotics and the cognitive sciences

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We often assume that our eyes deliver a detailed image of the world around us, but this is a mistake. Instead, as soon as we want to know the detail in a part of the scene, our eyes flick towards it and the detail is revealed. In this example, perception depends on the world, the motor system and an internal representation that enables the world to act as a 'store' of information that is always retrievable when required. Philosophical theories of 'embodied cognition' emphasise this link between the mind and the motor system. What this analysis lacks, however, is a firm neural and computational grounding specifying the proposed implementation. By looking in detail at a specific version of embodiment that has arisen within the neuroscience community and by exposing it to the critical tools of philosophers, we aim to assess the scope and limits of one particular proposal, and also to draw broader lessons for how neuroscience, robotics and philosophy ought to interact, with respect to these general questions about the nature of cognition. The network will be inherently multidisciplinary, based on the involvement of mathematicians, engineers, roboticists, psychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers, each with different, complementary inputs. The project is based in Philosophy in Reading, led by a philosopher and already includes key international experts in philosophy of mind and embodied cognition. International experts in neuroscience and robotics have also agreed to take part in the discussion and we will extend the group progressively.The interactions between members of the network will take place through (i) discussion on a wiki page, with new sets of pages being introduced as the debate develops; (ii) joint video conference meetings focused on specific, contentious areas and (iii) a two day conference towards the end of the 12 month period involving international experts in neuroscience, philosophy of mind and cognitive robotics.We will disseminate the results of the network primarily through a Brain and Behavioral Sciences article. This is a forum with high impact in both the philosophical and neuroscience communities. We will also publish more specialist articles in journals for neuroscience, engineering and philosophy. By the end of the year, we will develop a more public-facing portal to the wiki and encourage engagement with a broader audience outside academia. At this point we will use facilities such as ResearchGate to reach a wider group of researchers and social media such as Twitter to advertise the discussion within and beyond the academic community.