Andy Forceno

This paper explores the connection between the 2nd thermodynamics and the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. 60 years ago, Erwin Schrodinger understood that the thermodynamically-open nature of living systems exempted them from the constraints imposed by the second law, but it was not clear why such systems should exist at all. Now we’re coming to realize that, not only are open systems ubiquitous, but they are likely, and perhaps even necessary. Some open systems are characterized as dissipative, and they emerge as the system they are embedded in attempts to return closer to thermodynamic equilibrium. The emergence of life itself is a response of the surrounding system to the thermodynamic imperative of the second law. The stability and efficiency of metabolic processes over evolutionary time, as well as properties of entire ecosystems emerged to counter the effects of energy gradients applied to them.

Clark and Chalmers (2002) advance two hypotheses that both cognition and the mind extend into the environment. Both hypotheses are grounded in active externalism about mental content and the Parity Principle. Active externalism proposes that the external features of the environment in the present directly influence our mental contents and behavior. The Parity Principle states that a process or state in the environment is cognitive if it is functionally equivalent to a comparable intracranial cognitive process. This paper reviews two of the strongest replies to the hypotheses, namely that arguments for them commit the coupling-constitution fallacy and that the hypothesis of extended cognition is incompatible with any satisfactory criteria that distinguishes between cognitive and non-cognitive processes. This paper argues that a dynamical systems approach avoids both objections and offers a conceptual and methodological framework for an extended cognitive science. Lastly, an account of collective intentionality will be considered to show how groups of individuals can be the bearers of mental states.