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Enactivism is a theoretical approach to understanding the mind proposed by Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch.^[1] It emphasizes the way that organisms and the human mind organize themselves by interacting with their environment. It is closely related to situated cognition and embodied cognition, and is presented as an alternative to cognitivism, computationalism and Cartesian dualism.

Accounts of enactivism[link]

A book reviewer, Jeremy Trevalyan Burman, in reviewing Consciousness & Emotion, vol 1., ^[2] concluded:^[3]

However, in a review of the book Consciousness & Emotion Book Series 2 edited by Richard Menary, Evan Thompson, the book reviewer, stated the view:

-Evan Thompson, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Toronto.^[4]

At a fundamental level, enactivism is anti-dualist. The self arises as part of the process of an embodied entity interacting with the environment in precise ways determined by its physiology.^[1] In this sense, individuals can be seen to "grow into" or arise from, ^[3] their interactive role with the world. The self does not represent the world, but produces it through the nature of its unique way of interacting with its environment, stated the authors of The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience.^[1]

Francisco Varela, in 'The Tree of knowledge'^[5] proposed the term enactive "to designate this view of knowledge, to evoke the view that what is known is brought forth, in contraposition to the more classical views of either cognitivism or connectionism." Within the book, the analogies of the Razor's Edge and the Scylla and Charybdis are used to describe the "epistemologic Odyssey" between the notions of solipsism and representationalism. Enactivism, therefore is the middle ground between the two extremes [Tree of Knowledge, pgs. 133,134,253]. Maturana and Varela use this term to "confront the problem of understanding how our existence-the praxis of our living- is coupled to a surrounding world which appears filled with regularities that are at every instant the result of our biological and social histories.... to find a via media: to understand the regularity of the world we are experiencing at every moment, but without any point of reference independent of ourselves that would give certainty to our descriptions and cognitive assertions. Indeed the whole mechanism of generating ourselves, as describers and observers tells us that our world, as the world which we bring forth in our coexistence with others, will always have precisely that mixture of regularity and mutability, that combination of solidity and shifting sand, so typical of human experience when we look at it up close."[Tree of Knowledge, pg. 241]

Similar Theories of Growth of Knowledge[link]

Another current of biology inspired theories of growth of knowledge which are even more tied to Universal Darwinism in comparison to enactivism are those of evolutionary epistemologists, such as Karl Popper and Donald T. Campbell.^[6] In common with enactivism is their emphasis on both action and embodiment as sources of the knowledge which must reflect the environment well enough for the organism to be able to survive in it and which make them competitive enough to be able to reproduce at sustainable rate in their environment.

Scholars with sympathetic ideas[link]

Other related scholars[link]

Yet other authors of similar "Natural Growth of Knowledge" theories[link]

• Karl Popper
• Donald T. Campbell

See also[link]

Further reading[link]

• McGann, M. & Torrance, S. (2005). Doing it and meaning it (and the relationship between the two). In R. D. Ellis & N. Newton, Consciousness & Emotion, vol. 1: Agency, conscious choice, and selective perception. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ISBN 1-58811-596-8
• Hutto, D. D. (Ed.) (in press). Radical Enactivism: Intentionality, phenomenology, and narrative. In R. D. Ellis & N. Newton (Series Eds.), Consciousness & Emotion, vol. 2. ISBN 90-272-4151-1

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
2. ^ Ellis, R. D., & Newton, N. (2005). Consciousness & emotion: agency, conscious choice, and selective perception. Amsterdam [etc.: Benjamins.
3. ^ ^{a b} Burman, J. T. (2006). [Review of the book Consciousness & Emotion, vol. 1: Agency, conscious choice, and selective perception.], Journal of Consciousness Studies, 13(12), pp. 115-119. Full-text
4. ^ Radical Enactivism
5. ^ Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1992). The tree of knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding (Rev. ed.). Boston: Shambhala ; p255.
6. ^ Gary Cziko (1995) Without Miracles: Universal Selection Theory and the Second Darwinian Revolution (MIT Press)

Ned Block (born 1942) is an American philosopher working in the field of the philosophy of mind who has made important contributions to matters of consciousness and cognitive science. In 1971, he obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University under Hilary Putnam. He went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an assistant professor of philosophy (1971-1977), worked as associate professor of philosophy (1977-1983), professor of philosophy (1983-1996) and served as chair of the philosophy section (1989-1995). He has, since 1996, been a professor in the departments of philosophy and psychology and at the Center for Neural Science at New York University (NYU).

Block is noted for presenting the Blockhead argument against the Turing Test as a test of intelligence in a paper entitled Psychologism and Behaviourism (1981). He is also known for his criticism of functionalism, arguing that a system with the same functional states as a human is not necessarily conscious. In his more recent work on consciousness, he has made a distinction between phenomenal consciousness and access consciousness, where phenomenal consciousness consists of subjective experience and feelings and access consciousness consists of that information globally available in the cognitive system for the purposes of reasoning, speech and high-level action control. He has argued that access consciousness and phenomenal consciousness might not always coincide in human beings.

Block has been a judge at the Loebner Prize contest, a contest in the tradition of the Turing Test to determine whether a conversant is a computer or a human.

He is married to the developmental psychologist Susan Carey.

Positions[link]

1. Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at New York University (NYU) 1996 - Current
2. Chair of the Philosophy Program At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
3. Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
4. Guggenheim Fellow
5. Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Language and Information
6. Sloan Foundation Fellow
7. Recipient of Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies
8. Recipient of Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
9. Past President of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology
10. Past Chair of the MIT Press Cognitive Science Board of Syndics
11. Past President of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
12. Co-editor of The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates (MIT Press, 1997).

See also[link]

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers
• China brain

External links[link]

• Block's Professional page
• Discussion of Block in a wikibook about consciousness.
• Minds and Machines course by Ned Block

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Wilber Varela
Born	November 6, 1957 Roldanillo, Valle del Cuaca, Colombia.
Died	January 30, 2008 Mérida, Venezuela.
Cause	Shot Dead
Alias(es)	Jabón, El Negro, El Jefe, El Comandante.
Allegiance	Norte del Valle Cartel
Occupation	Former National Police of Colombia Agent, Hitman, Drug Trafficker.
Spouse	Yovanna Guzman (until 2008)
Children	Wilber Felipe Varela Camacho (Killed on March 20, 2009).

Wilber Alirio Varela Fajardo aka Jabón ("Soap") (November 6, 1957 – January 30, 2008) was a former Colombian Police agent who then became a drug dealer and member of the Norte del Valle Cartel. Varela was an extremely violent narco who was attributed with the assassination of rival traffickers and suspected informants.

Varela Fajardo's drug trafficking activities were integral to the North Valle Cartel, which exports multi-ton loads of cocaine primarily from Colombia's Pacific Coast through the Valle del Cauca Department to the United States and Europe.^[1] Varela Fajardo engaged in a bloody war with Diego León Montoya Sánchez for the control of the drug routes.

Arrest history[link]

In March 2004, the Colombian Government, under Operación Resplandor (an interdiction and surge operation initiated to maintain continued pressure on the North Valle Cartel) arrested seven individuals linked to the Varela Fajardo organization, and seized $4.7 million USD in counterfeit currency, $2.96 million USD in currency, and $71 million Colombian pesos, three vehicles, five motorcycles, and numerous weapons and explosives from Varela Fajardo. In May 2004, the Colombian Government, under Operation Resplandor II, executed search warrants for information on Varela Fajardo's illicit activities and seized $15,000 USD and numerous financial documents, a palm pilot and a computer hard-drive.^[1]

Meanwhile Varela Fajardo was indicted by a Washington D.C. federal grand jury in the United States on drug trafficking and racketeering charges stemming from his leadership role in the North Valley Cartel. A RICO indictment was filed in the District Court of the District of Columbia by the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section of the DOJ Criminal Division against the leaders of the North Valley Cartel, including Varela Fajardo. According to the indictment, the North Valley Cartel exported approximately 500 metric tons of cocaine worth in excess of $10 billion from Colombia, often through Mexico, to the United States between 1990 and 2004. The indictment was unsealed in May 2004. A provisional arrest warrant was issued and was sent to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota. In addition in March, 2004 a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York indicted Varela on Drug Trafficking Charges. The United States Department of State offered a reward of up to $5m for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Varela Fajardo.^[1]

Death[link]

Varela was found murdered in early 2008 in a hotel resort in the state of Mérida in Venezuela.^[2] Colombian authorities believe he was murdered by his own men on orders of jailed paramilitary drug lord Carlos Mario Jiménez alias "Macaco" to end Varela's power struggle in the rival city Medellin and surrounding areas in Antioquia. With the death of Varela, Jimenez consolidated himself as the maximum authority in drug trafficking in Colombia controlling the drug trade in ten Colombian states and having authority over the cartel. Jimenez was later extradited to the United States on May 7, 2008 for failing to meet the terms of his surrender and for continuing to run his criminal organization in prison. Wilber Varela Fajardo's death has been confirmed by Venezuelan authorities after fingerprints analysis on January 30, 2008.

See also[link]

• Illegal drug trade in Colombia
• Illegal drug trade in Venezuela
• Norte del Valle Cartel

References[link]

External links[link]

• ¿Quién era Wilber Varela, alias 'Jabón'?

Clifton Alexander "Alex" Hawkins (born July 2, 1937) is a retired American football player who played running back for the Baltimore Colts and Atlanta Falcons. He excelled as a special teams player. He was a co-captain with the Colts.

Hawkins acquired the nickname "Captain Who" prior to a Baltimore Colts/Chicago Bears game, when the team captains were being introduced to each other before the game. Bears' Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus responded to the official's reference to "Captain Hawkins" by blurting out "Captain Who?"

In the 1970s, Hawkins worked as a color commentator for Falcons radio, and for TVS' Thursday night WFL telecasts and CBS' NFL telecasts. In 1977, the NFC Championship Game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys was televised by CBS and covered by play-by-play announcer Vin Scully with Hawkins as color commentator. At one point Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach was shown jogging off the field, and Hawkins commented to Scully, "You know, Vin, that Roger Staubach runs like a sissy." To which Scully responded after a period of stunned silence, "You know, Hawk, they tell me you didn't always wear your helmet when you played!" The next day CBS fired Hawkins.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alex Hawkins (statistics & history) – Pro-Football-Reference.com.
• Vintage Football Card Gallery: Alex Hawkins

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