Call For Contributions: Cognitive Tools in Action

General Info

The conference “Cognitive Tools in Action” aims to explore the diverse ways in which cognition is both shaped by tools and manifests itself as a dynamic interplay of strategies and embodied actions.

The term “cognitive tools” encompasses both external instruments (e.g., artworks, technologies, artifacts, and media) that modulate cognitive processes, and internal strategies (e.g., metaphor) employed in cognitive processing. By emphasizing “in action”, we seek to foreground the deeply embodied, sensorimotor, and interactive nature of cognition.

This conference invites scholars from a range of disciplines (including but not limited to anthropology, arts, literature, neuroscience, performance studies, philosophy, psychology), to reflect on the reciprocal relationship between cognitive tools and the environments, bodies, and contexts in which they operate.

Topics

We welcome contributions that engage with the following themes, among others:

• The 4E Cognition framework
• Arts and Literature as Symbolic Tools for Cognition
• Performative Arts, Cognition, and the Body
• Beyond Human Cognition: Prosthetics, AI, Biohacking
• The Ethics of Cognitive Tools
• Embodiment and Multimodality in Linguistic Cognition
• Metaphorical Cognition
• Paleocognition and Paleoaesthetics
• Environment and Technology
• Psychedelics as Cognitive and Epistemic Tools
• Music and cognition
• Visual studies and cognition

Submission

Please send your proposal via the form at the following link: cognitive-futures.com. The abstracts must not exceed 500 words. Each Speaker will have 20 minutes time for the talk, followed by 10 minutes discussion. Deadline for abstract submission is 30 March 2025.

Application available at https://cognitive-futures.com/