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Mark Bickhard

Lehigh University, Philosophy, Faculty Member

Lehigh University, Psychology, Faculty Member

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Papers by Mark Bickhard

Representation: Emulation and anticipation

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2004

We address the issue of the normativity of representation and how Grush might address it for emul... more

Interactivism: introduction to the special issue

At the center of interactivism is a commitment to a fundamental metaphysics of process, such as t... more

Otto Kernberg's Object Relations Theory

Abstract A conceptual and empirical critique of Kernberg's influential object relations theory is... more Abstract A conceptual and empirical critique of Kernberg's influential object relations theory is presented as a case study of the limitations of structural ontological presuppositions in accounting for psychological processes. A summary overview is provided of Kernberg's systems model, the process of internalization, his developmental stages, and his conception of the borderline personality organization.

Notes on the Negative Side of Rationality: Critical Principles

A central but neglected aspect of rationality is its negative aspect: knowledge of error. Knowled... more

The biological foundations of cognitive science

Cognitive Science originated in reactions against behaviorism that were motivated in significant ... more Cognitive Science originated in reactions against behaviorism that were motivated in significant part by the example of the computer. The computer raised the exciting possibility that mind could be understood almost entirely independently of brain: if the operations of the mind are akin to the execution of a program, then almost all the relevant aspects of mind would be captured by that program, independently of whatever was running it, be it transistors or neurons.

Cognition and Action

There are two primary orientations to the nature of representation in the literature today. The d... more There are two primary orientations to the nature of representation in the literature today. The dominant approach, and the historically oldest, takes representation to be some sort of encoding of what is being represented. This has roots in the ancient Greeks, with, for example, Aristotle's analogy between perception and the impression left in wax by a signet ring. Modern versions tend to focus on some special sort of correspondence between a mental representation and what it represents.

World Mirroring versus World Making: World Mirroring versus World Making: There's Gotta be a Better Way. There's Gotta be a Better Way.

There are many issues presented, touched upon, and presupposed in these papers—issues that have, ... more There are many issues presented, touched upon, and presupposed in these papers—issues that have, in some cases, ancient historical roots and many variants and complexities. In searching for a framework within which I felt that I could approach these papers in some integrated way, I was forced back to these historical roots. The conference was a moment in a very long conversation (Melchert, 1991), and cannot be understood outside of the context of that conversation.

Toward a Model of Functional Brain Processes I: Central Nervous System Functional Micro-Architecture

Abstract The brain does not function in accordance with standard passive input processing models—... more Abstract The brain does not function in accordance with standard passive input processing models—eg, information processing models. Instead, there are multiple endogenously active processes at multiple scales across multiple kinds of cells. In part I of this discussion, a micro-functional model that accounts for these multi-scale phenomena in generating emergent representation and cognition is outlined. In part II, this model is extended to address macro-functioning in the CNS.

Modern approaches to language

Recently, research on language has undergone major and accelerating transformations. This include... more Recently, research on language has undergone major and accelerating transformations. This includes work addressing language related psychological processes and language development. At one point, such work was strongly dominated (at least in the United States) by Chomsky's theories and metatheories about language. This dominance has begun to fade as more fruitful models and approaches have been developed, with a special flowering of alternative approaches in the last decade or so.

Language as an interaction system

In this article I present a programmatic outline of a new kind of model of language, and offer so... more In this article I present a programmatic outline of a new kind of model of language, and offer some criticisms of standard approaches. The discussion begins with issues concerning representation because, so I argue, problems with standard approaches to representation are at the heart of notions of and problems with language.

The tragedy of operationalism

Mark H. Bickhard Department of Psychology 17 Memorial Drive East Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA ... more

A Challenge to Constructivism: Internal and External Sources of Constructive Constraint

Constructivism is forced by any action based model of individual cognition, and action based cogn... more Constructivism is forced by any action based model of individual cognition, and action based cognitive models are the only viable kind, in spite of the continued dominance of information processing and innatist models. Constructivist models, however, must ultimately address a number of issues that are internal to the constructivist framework.

Some notes on internal and external relations and representation

Internal relations are those relations that are intrinsic to the nature of one or more of the rel... more Internal relations are those relations that are intrinsic to the nature of one or more of the relata. They are a kind of essential relation, rather than an essential property. For example, an arc of a circle is internally related to the center of that circle in the sense that it could not be that arc of that circle without having that relation to that center of the circle. A classic example is that of part to whole: this X could not be a part of Y unless it had an appropriate “part of” relationship to Y.(I like my “arc of circle” example better.)

The interactivist model

Abstract A shift from a metaphysical framework of substance to one of process enables an integrat... more Abstract A shift from a metaphysical framework of substance to one of process enables an integrated account of the emergence of normative phenomena. I show how substance assumptions block genuine ontological emergence, especially the emergence of normativity, and how a process framework permits a thermodynamic-based account of normative emergence. The focus is on two foundational forms of normativity, that of normative function and of representation as emergent in a particular kind of function.

Developmental normativity and normative development

Development is guided by multiple norms, and further normativities emerge in development. This sh... more Development is guided by multiple norms, and further normativities emerge in development. This should be a commonplace observation—after all, it characterizes the core dialectic of developmental processes—but normativity is instead a perplexing and sometimes desperately ignored aspect of development. I will address some reasons why normativity is so perplexing, reasons that begin with Parmenides, and, therefore, that have a rather long history.

Social ontology as convention

Abstract I will argue that social ontology is constituted as hierarchical and interlocking conven... more Abstract I will argue that social ontology is constituted as hierarchical and interlocking conventions of multifarious kinds. Convention, in turn, is modeled in a manner derived from that of David K. Lewis. Convention is usually held to be inadequate for models of social ontologies, with one primary reason being that there seems to be no place for normativity.

Mind as process

Mark H. Bickhard One of the major themes of the history of science is the replacement of substanc... more Mark H. Bickhard One of the major themes of the history of science is the replacement of substance assumptions about the phenomena of interest with process models. Thus, phlogiston has been replaced by combustion, caloric by random thermal motion, and vital fluid by farfrom-equilibrium self-reproducing organizations of process. The most significant exceptions to this historical pattern are found in studies of the mind.

How to build a machine with emergent representational content

Abstract Encodingism as a fundamental model of the nature of representation rests on a logical in... more Abstract Encodingism as a fundamental model of the nature of representation rests on a logical incoherence. This incoherence is manifested, among many other ways, in the empty symbol problem—the inability to provide any representational content to the symbols upon which cognitive science depends. Interactivism is model of representation that avoids the incoherences and aporias of encodingism—in fact, it explains them.

Are You Social?

In what way does human sociality differ from that of ants or bees? The sociality of social insect... more In what way does human sociality differ from that of ants or bees? The sociality of social insects is an emergent at the level of the nest or hive, an emergent of the organization of interactions among the biological organisms: Each individual insect remains as a biological being no matter how complex the social organization. There is a sense in which that is the case for humans, but human sociality also involves an additional social ontological emergence for each individual.

What Could Cognition Be If Not Computation... Or Connectionism, or Dynamic Systems?

Abstract Despite the fact that representation is at the center of AI and cognitive science, there... more Abstract Despite the fact that representation is at the center of AI and cognitive science, there is still no consensual model of what representation, thus cognition, is. I argue that there are good reasons for this impasse: none of the approaches to modeling representation that are currently on offer is ultimately viable. I outline several of the deepest reasons for this conclusion, and offer an alternative, pragmatism based, approach to modeling representation and cognition.