Action Models for the Extended Mind

Abstract

Logic has a relevant role in many cognitivist theories by authors like Fodor. Representational theories of mind have space for logical inference. But current trends in cognitivism deal with new topics, like the relevance of the environment in cognitive tasks. The idea of the extended mind focuses on the importance of external resources that can be considered as part of the mind. It seems that logic has nothing to say in these theories. But new advances in dynamic epistemic logic provide tools that allow us to model some of the operations that a cognitive agent makes when interacting with the environment. We do not claim that all aspects of the extended mind thesis can be caught by logical formalisms. But a logical analysis of the epistemic actions related with the cognitive configuration and exploitation of the environment throws light on the novelties of the externalist approaches.