the green fuse /Harris

Embodied Cognition

In the late 20th century researchers in both science and the humanities recognized that the body was essential to cognition. References appear in a variety of fields, including postmodernism (Foucault, 1980), feminism (Braidotti 1991), philosophy (Merleau-Ponty, 1962), sociology (Bourdieu, 1990; Burkitt, 1999) anthropology (Csordas, 1995, McGuire 2002), cognitive science (Clark, 1997; Damasio, 1994; Lakoff and Johnson, 1999) and religious studies (Grimes 1995, Harris, 1996 and 1998, Peterson 2003).

Lakoff and Johnson claim that an “embodied spirituality is … an ecological spirituality” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999:566), and embodied cognition plays a role in deepening environmental awareness and encouraging activism (Martin 1990, Harris 1996, Harvey 1997).

My focus is embodied situated cognition in Eco-Pagan practice. The practice of Eco-Paganism, in which embodiment, gender and environment are central, presents an ideal test case to apply embodied situated cognition theory using an embodied methodology.

My PhD thesis has been submitted for examination and a summary will be available here once that process is complete.

Last updated: 23-03-2008

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