Building a stronger concept of embodiment

Abstract

After reviewing some disagreements and worries about embodied cognition (EC) as a research field, I focus on the distinction between weak EC, which focuses on brain-based, body-related representations, and strong EC, which takes the extraneural body and environment to be more central to cognition. An important aspect of weak EC is its reliance on the neural reuse hypothesis. I argue that an adequate understanding of neural reuse actually points in the direction of a stronger conception of embodied cognition where extraneural factors play an essential role in evolutionary and developmental time frames. Both body and the environment (including physical, social, and cultural factors) place important constraints on how reuse works.