On November 15, 2021, Robert D. Rupert,Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder,delivered his first lecture to the teachers and students of School of Foreign Languages viaZoomandTencent Meeting at 11a.m.He is scheduled to give five lectures aboutEmbodimentand Cognitive Sciencefrom November 15 to November 19, 2021. The first lectureentitled “Embodied Functionalism” was hosted by Prof. Chaojun Yang, Dean of School of Foreign Languages. Over 300 postgraduates and faculty members joined the lecture with interest and excitement.
Professor Robert D. Rupertis also a fellow of UC-Boulder’s Institute of Cognitive Science, and a core faculty member of UC-Boulder's Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science. He has published on various topics in philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language. His most influential works address questions concerning situated cognition (“Challenges to the Hypothesis of Extended Mind,” Journal of Philosophy, 2004; Cognitive Systems and the Extended Mind, Oxford University Press, 2009), group minds (“Minding One's Cognitive Systems: When Does a Group of Minds Constitute a Single Cognitive Unit?”), and mental representation (“The Best Test Theory of Extension: First Principle(s),” Mind & Language1999; “Coining Terms in the Language of Thought,” Journal of Philosophy, 2001; “Representation and Mental Representation,” Philosophical Explorations, 2018). He is Regular Visiting Professor at University of Edinburgh and was previously Professorial Fellow there. He has also held visiting positions at the Australian National University, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, New York University, Macquarie University, and Western University, Ontario, among other institutions. He has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for College Teachers. He currently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief ofBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
Later, Professor Robert D. Rupert systematically introduced the basic background, historical development and core claims of embodied functionalism. Proponents of the embodied view of cognition sometimes make sweeping claims on its behalf. One reads that, because cognition is embodied, there are no mental representations and that computational and functionalist theories of mind must be treated as relics of the past. In this lecture,ProfessorRupert paint a more conciliatory picture. He argue that we make the best sense of the history of cognitive science if we understand it as having had a substantive embodied component all along. Much of human cognition can be well described as the implementation of algorithms. But, which algorithms they are, among the infinity of possibilities, depends on the (often) fine-grained details of the body and its surrounding environment; the body and environment determine the relevant computational and functional facts, though more abstract modeling efforts are typically necessary to comprehend those facts. Thus, the most promising approach to cognitive science is an embodied functionalist approach, one that combines computational modeling with careful attention to bodily and environmental processes. The coreclaims of embodied functionalism are as follows: 1) The workings of extant minds are best characterized functionally; 2)Fine-grained facts about bodily states and processes determine the functional roles that individuate human cognitive states; 3) It’s not a monstrosity. In fact, it’s the most plausible way of understanding embodied cognitive science; 4) It’s not a post hoc reinterpretation of the tradition. Rather, it reflects a historically prominent thread in mainstream cognitive science.In sum, all the audiencewere deeply moved by ProfessorRupert’s passion for academics and profound knowledgeas well, andtheyall look forward to the following four lectures.
International Academic Linguistics Seminar(IALS) has been held by School of Foreign Languages at Henan university annuallysince 2019. A number of international distinguished experts and scholars will be invited to give a series of lectures in our seminar, bringing the latest academic views and frontier research to the teachers and students of Henan University. On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Henan University, our School of Foreign Languages will hold dozens of international distinguished lectures, zeroing in on the international frontier, creating a strong academic atmosphere, and presentingthetribute for Henan University!
