Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Philosophy Mind & Body

The Embodied Mind, revised edition

Cognitive Science and Human Experience

by (author) Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson & Eleanor Rosch

foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Publisher
MIT Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2017
Category
Mind & Body, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780262529365
    Publish Date
    Jan 2017
    List Price
    $42.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

A new edition of a classic work that originated the “embodied cognition” movement and was one of the first to link science and Buddhist practices.

This classic book, first published in 1991, was one of the first to propose the “embodied cognition” approach in cognitive science. It pioneered the connections between phenomenology and science and between Buddhist practices and science—claims that have since become highly influential. Through this cross-fertilization of disparate fields of study, The Embodied Mind introduced a new form of cognitive science called “enaction,” in which both the environment and first person experience are aspects of embodiment. However, enactive embodiment is not the grasping of an independent, outside world by a brain, a mind, or a self; rather it is the bringing forth of an interdependent world in and through embodied action. Although enacted cognition lacks an absolute foundation, the book shows how that does not lead to either experiential or philosophical nihilism. Above all, the book's arguments were powered by the conviction that the sciences of mind must encompass lived human experience and the possibilities for transformation inherent in human experience.

This revised edition includes substantive introductions by Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch that clarify central arguments of the work and discuss and evaluate subsequent research that has expanded on the themes of the book, including the renewed theoretical and practical interest in Buddhism and mindfulness. A preface by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the originator of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program, contextualizes the book and describes its influence on his life and work.

About the authors

Francisco J. Varela (1946– 2001) was Director of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Professor of Cognitive Science and Epistemology, CREA, at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, and Cofounder of the Mind and Life Institute.

Francisco J. Varela's profile page

Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and author of Waking, Dreaming, Being.

Evan Thompson's profile page

Eleanor Rosch is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Eleanor Rosch's profile page

Jon Kabat-Zinn's profile page