The Discovery of the Artificial

Cordeschi, Roberto

doi:10.1007/978-94-015-9870-5

Cited by 94 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Philosophers of science and philosophically minded scientist have often discussed about the role of robotic models in animal research (Floreano et al, 2014;Pfeifer and Bongard, 2006;Pfeifer and Scheier, 1999;Webb, 2000Webb, , 2001Webb, , 2006Cordeschi, 2002;Datteri and Tamburrini, 2007;Datteri, 2017). However, this literature almost exclusively focuses on non-interactive biorobotics.…”

Section: Interactive Biorobotics and The Synthetic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Robots have been often called to play experimental roles for the study of animal and human behaviour. An early example is the implementation, in 1912, of Jacques Loeb's (1900) theory on the phototropism of moths in a robot whose light-seeking behaviour was later taken by Loeb himself as a support for his theory (Cordeschi, 2002). More recently, in so-called biorobotics, robotic systems have been used to study the behaviour of lobsters (Grasso et al, 2000), crickets (Reeve et al, 2005), portions of the human nervous system (Chou and Hannaford, 1997), and even extinct animals (Long, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several methodological questions concerning this use of robots have been addressed in the philosophical literature (Cordeschi, 2002;Webb, 2001Webb, , 2006Datteri, 2017;Datteri & Tamburrini, 2007). Can robots provide genuine knowledge about the behaviour of living systems?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second goal, pursued in section 4, is to argue that the interactive stimulation methodology differs in some key respects from the methodologies typically adopted in non-interactive biorobotics, including the so-called 'synthetic method' (Webb 2001(Webb , 2006Cordeschi, 2002). Philosophical literature has chiefly focused on the synthetic method so far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interactive biorobotics

Datteri

2020

Synthese

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What can interactive robots offer to the study of social behaviour? Philosophical reflections about the use of robotic models in animal research have focused so far on methods (including the so-called synthetic method) involving robots which do not interact with the target system. Yet, leading researchers have claimed that interactive robots may constitute powerful experimental tools to study collective behaviour. Can they live up to these epistemic expectations? This question is addressed here by focusing on a particular experimental methodology involving interactive robots which has been often adopted in animal research. This methodology is shown to differ from other robot-supported methods for the study of animal behaviour analysed in the philosophical literature, chiefly including the synthetic method. It is also discussed whether biomimicry (i.e., similarity between the robot and the target animal in behaviour, appearance, and internal mechanisms) and acceptability (i.e., whether or not the robot is accepted as a conspecific by the animal) are necessary for an interactive robot to be sensibly used in animal research according to this method.

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Section: Interactive Biorobotics and The Synthetic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interactive biorobotics

Datteri

2020

Synthese

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“…Understanding how the brain generates cognitive processes requires studying its mechanisms in operation, which demands a research method centered not on analysis, but on synthesis. With other pioneers of cybernetics, McCulloch saw this new methodological approach in the “synthetic method” emerging from the proto-cybernetic movements of the beginning of the 20th century (Cordeschi, 2002). Like other cyberneticists, he interpreted it as complementing the traditional analytical method (Craik, 1943), and implemented it along the lines of the “understanding by building” methodological slogan that, still today, guides frontier research in AI and the other sciences of the artificial (Pfeifer and Scheier, 1999; Damiano and Stano, 2018a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plural Embodiment(s) of Mind. Genealogy and Guidelines for a Radically Embodied Approach to Mind and Consciousness

Ceruti

Damiano

2018

Front. Psychol.

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This article focuses on a scientific approach to the study of cognition that Warren McCulloch introduced in the era of cybernetics as “experimental epistemology.” In line with recent attempts to highlight its contribution to cognitive science and AI, our article intends to draw attention to its unexplored influence on contemporary embodied approaches to the investigation of mind and consciousness. To this end, we will survey a series of models of cognitive systems genealogically related to the McCulloch-Pitts networks-based modeling approach, i.e., von Foerster’s model of the biological computer, the Maturana-Varela model of the autopoietic system, and Varela’s model of emergent selves. Based on examination of the relevant aspects of these models, we will argue that they offered the McCulloch-Pitts “cybernetic of networks” a coherent methodological and theoretical line of development, complementary to the well-known computationalist one. As we will show, this alternative evolutionary line empowered the biological orientation of McCulloch’s experimental epistemology, laying foundations for contemporary “radically embodied” approaches to mind and consciousness – in particular the Thompson-Varela approach. We will identify the heritage of this tradition of inquiry for future research in cognitive science and AI by proposing guidelines that synthetize how its methodological and theoretical insights suggest taking into account the role(s) played by the biological body in cognitive processes – consciousness included.

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H ull, C lark L.

Smith

2006

Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science

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The Discovery of the Artificial

Cited by 94 publications

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Interactive biorobotics

Interactive biorobotics

Plural Embodiment(s) of Mind. Genealogy and Guidelines for a Radically Embodied Approach to Mind and Consciousness

H ull, C lark L.

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