Frontiers in Psychology
May 11, 2018
Shaun Gallagher, Anya Daly
105 citations
The pattern theory of self proposes that the self is a dynamical pattern that includes neural, embodied, and enactive processes, rather than a static entity. Critics argue the theory fails to explain how the elements of this self-pattern dynamically relate, reducing it to a mere list. This paper argues that the dynamics of the self-pattern can be investigated in three ways: through narrative reflection, by studying psychiatric and neurological disorders to see how relations fail, and by using predictive processing accounts in neuroscience to clarify the dynamical relations that constitute the self-pattern.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2024
Anya Daly, Rosa Ritunnano, Shaun Gallagher et al.
17 citations
Mental disorders involve complex alterations of the self that arise from interactions among cognitive, bodily, affective, social, narrative, cultural, and normative elements. The pattern theory of self (PTS) provides a non-reductive account consistent with embodied-enactive cognition and phenomenological psychopathology, emphasizing the multi-dimensionality of subjects and situated embodiment. This article develops the Examination of Self Patterns (ESP), a flexible methodological framework that front-loads the self-pattern into a minimally structured phenomenological interview. The ESP avoids internalist or externalist assumptions about mind and is guided by person-specific interpretations rather than diagnostic categories, offering advantages for tackling the complexity of mental health research and clinical protocols.
Human Studies
January 1, 2021
Anya Daly
7 citations
Feminist socio-political critiques often rely on social constructionism, which holds that oppressive structures are real but contingent—meaning they could be different. Some philosophers argue that without a metaphysical grounding, such critiques lack substance. This paper contends that current debates on this issue rest on flawed assumptions rooted in monist or dualist ontologies and a view of subjects as purely rational agents. The author proposes enactivism, inspired by phenomenology, as an alternative: it advances an ontology of interdependence and sees subjects as organisms embedded in a meaningful world. Enactivism reconciles contingency with fundamentality by defining fundamentality through radical contingency, thereby legitimizing feminist critiques without reducing their substantive force.
Human Studies
January 1, 2022
Anya Daly
Starting from Merleau-Ponty's call to begin again in both philosophy and politics, this paper examines how his later ontological ideas—radical interdependence (the reversibility thesis and 'flesh') and radical contingency—carry political implications for humanism, democracy, and progress. The author argues that recognizing ontological interdependence and contingency can support a flourishing democracy, and that ontology is inherently political: getting ontology right is a matter of discovery, not choice. The paper traces Merleau-Ponty's shift from early political engagements with Nazism, Marxism, and humanism toward later ontological concerns, noting his distancing from Marxism after revelations of Stalin's gulags and the Korean War, while maintaining no rupture in his philosophical vision.