Knowing without Thinking: Mind, Action, Cognition and the Phenomenon of the Background (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)

A Volume Devoted Explicitly To The Subtle And Multidimensional Phenomenon Of Background Knowing That Has To Be Recognized As An Important Element Of The Triad Mind-body-world. The Essays Are Inspired By Seminal Works On The Topic By Searle And Dreyfus, But Also Make Significant Contribution In Bringing The Discussion Beyond The Classical Confines. Edited By Zdravko Radman. Modern study of the mind is marked by the hegemony of thought, dominance of consciousness, and dictate of deliberation that result in an overwhelming intellectualism. However, it ignores the fundamental fact that by far most of our mental activity is not manifested in explicit reasoning, and is mostly not conscious. What then enables our successful participation in the natural, social, and cultural surroundings without recourse to the 'higher' cognitive processes? The background. It is the implicit and efficacious guide in human coping with the world without the monitoring reason. Yet how rules turn into routines? How conscious efforts convert into unreflective skills? How does the body of knowledge become the knowing body? How can most complex reactions of the human mind turn into 'just doing'? The lesson from the background teaches us that we are capacitated to do more than we explicitly know; the sort of knowledge is skilled and automated competence which is there before the conscious 'self' can report of its emergence. "A volume devoted explicitly to the subtle and multidimensional phenomenon of background knowing that has to be recognized as an important element of the triad mind-body-world. The essays are inspired by seminal works on the topic by Searle and Dreyfus, but also make significant contribution in bringing the discussion beyond the classical confines" A volume devoted explicitly to the subtle and multidimensional phenomenon of background knowing that has to be recognized as an important element of the triad mind-body-world. The essays are inspired by seminal works on the topic by Searle and Dreyfus, but also make significant contribution in bringing the discussion beyond the classical confines. Modern study of the mind is marked by the hegemony of thought, dominance of consciousness, and dictate of deliberation that result in an overwhelming intellectualism. However, it ignores the fundamental fact that by far most of our mental activity is not manifested in explicit reasoning, and is mostly not conscious. What then enables our successful participation in the natural, social, and cultural surroundings without recourse to the 'higher' cognitive processes? The background. It is the implicit and efficacious guide in human coping with the world without the monitoring reason. Yet how rules turn into routines? How conscious efforts convert into unreflective skills? How does the body of knowledge become the knowing body? How can most complex reactions of the human mind turn into 'just doing'? The lesson from the background teaches us that we are capacitated to do more than we explicitly know; the sort of knowledge is skilled and automated competence which is there before the conscious 'self' can report of its emergence Machine generated contents note: Preface Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction; Z.Radman The Mystery of the Background qua Background; H.L.Dreyfus PART I: ECHOING SEARLE'S AND DREYFUS' VIEWS ON THE BACKGROUND Ground-Level Intelligence:Action-Oriented Representation and the Dynamics of the Background; M.Cappuccio& M.Wheeler Exposing the Background: Deep and Local; D.D.Hutto The Background as Intentional, Conscious, and Nonconceptual; M.Schmitz Social Cognition, the Chinese Room, and the Robot Replies; S.Gallagher Contesting John's Searle' Social Ontology: Institutions and Background; J.Margolis Music and the Background; D.Schmicking PART II: EXTENDED VIEWS ON THE BACKGROUND Implicit Precision; E.T.Gendlin Enkinaesthesia: The Essential Sensuous Background for Co-Agency; S.A.J.Stuart Steps Entailed in Foregrounding the Background: Taking the Challenge of Languaging Experience Seriously; M.Sheets-Johnstone The Body as Background: Pragmatism and Somasthetics; R.Shusterman The Background: A Tool of Potentiality; Z.Radman Embodied Technology as Implicit Knowledge of Modern Civilization; K.Mainzer Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xx Introductory Essay: The Mystery of the Background qua Background....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Ground-Level Intelligence: Action-Oriented Representation and the Dynamics of the Background....Pages 13-36 Exposing the Background: Deep and Local....Pages 37-56 The Background as Intentional, Conscious, and Nonconceptual....Pages 57-82 Social Cognition, the Chinese Room, and the Robot Replies....Pages 83-97 Contesting John Searle’s Social Ontology: Institutions and Background....Pages 98-115 Music and the Background....Pages 116-138 Front Matter....Pages 139-139 Implicit Precision....Pages 141-166 Enkinaesthesia: The Essential Sensuous Background for Co-Agency....Pages 167-186 Steps Entailed in Foregrounding the Background: Taking the Challenge of Languaging Experience Seriously....Pages 187-205 The Body as Background: Pragmatism and Somaesthetics....Pages 206-223 The Background: A Tool of Potentiality....Pages 224-242 Embodied Technology as Implicit Background of Modern Civilization....Pages 243-251 Back Matter....Pages 253-256