Tra mente estesa e plasticità neurale: il linguaggio come “artefatto fondamentale” / Linking the Extended Mind to Neural Plasticity: Language as the “Ultimate Artifact”

Chiara Guidi

Chiara Guidi

Keywords: Extended Mind, neural plasticity, language, niche construction, ultimate artifact

Abstract

In the current philosophical debate on mind, the Extended Mind Theory can be considered as a theory with an extremely heuristic and innovate value. Pointing out the importance of the reciprocal interaction among brain, body and world in the determination of cognitive processes, this theory entails a deep reconsideration of the traditional way of looking at cognition and mind, thus promoting a new paradigm for the study of mental phenomena. The aim of this paper is to propose a reflection on the Extended Mind Theory, starting from Andy Clark’s works on this topic and linking it to neural plasticity. This latter can, indeed, be acknowledged as a strong theoretical support of the Extended Mind conceptual proposal, highlighting the impact of the environment on the physiology of the brain and endorsing an evolutionary perspective for the comprehension of mental phenomena. As far as Clark’s proposal is concerned, language has to be considered the ultimate artefact, as such able to simplify our cognitive processes, like any other technological tool does. This very proposal will be further analyzed by emphasizing the impact of the cultural, social, historical and technological environment on the development of cognitive functions.

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