From Unmovable Points to Structural Drift: An Introduction to Enactivism
James P. P. Horn
European Scientific Journal ESJ 2018 DOI: 10.19044/esj.2018.c5p8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the enactivist agenda requires dislodging transcendental abstractions that have long served as a Cartesian "unmovable point" for judging knowledge claims, and proposes that an enactive approach grounded in the capacities of living systems can offer a stable yet evolving understanding of how data, information, and knowledge intersect to constitute living and learning. |
Abstract
This essay examines possibilities for a reflexive understanding of knowledge attainment that is grounded in the enactive capacities of living systems.Appreciating the enactivist agenda requires a dislodging of obstructions created by an accumulated history of transcendental abstractions that have sought to provide a Cartesian "unmovable point" against which knowledge claims are veridically judged.This essay traces some long-held philosophical and scientific assumptions that have limited the attainment of knowledge in exchange for the banishment of epistemic anxieties that result from a loss of absolute certainty.A brief history of this problem is presented as context for the present advocacy of an enactive approach to the pursuit of cognitive outcomes.It is hoped that enactivism may offer a stable, yet evolving, understanding of how data, information, and knowledge intersect to constitute living and learning.Implications, both moral and scientific, are shared.